6ZS 


University  of  California. 


FROM    WW.    I.IHRARY    <JF 


D  R  .     FRANCIS     L  I  E  B  E  K , 
ifJijif  IIj..«tory  anj^  L:nv  in  Colombia  College,  New  Yi-rk. 


;IFT   OF 

EL     REESt: 

'an  Francisco. 
^  7  3  . 


^^- 


X 


BUBBLES 


FROM    THE 


BRUNNEN    OF    NASSAU 

BY    A-N    OLD    MAN. 


BUBBLE  ('job'jrl,  Dutch). 

Anything  which  wants  solidity  and  firmness 

Johnson's  Dictionary. 


N  E  W  .  Y  0  R  K  : 

WILEY    &    PUTNAM,    161    BROADWAY, 

1845. 


/^> 


Craio^ad's  Power  Press, 
112  Fiilton  Street. 


Stereotyped  by  T.  B.  Sirtri 

316    "William  Street 


PREFACE 


The  writer  of  this  trifling  Volume  was  suddenly  sentenced, 
in  the  cold  evening  of  his  life,  to  drink  the  mineral  waters 
of  one  of  the  bubbling  springs,  or  brunnen,  of  Nassau. 
In  his  own  opinion,  his  constitution  was  not  worth  so 
troublesome  a  repair  ;  but,  being  outvoted,  he  bowed  and 
departed. 

On  reaching  the  point  of  his  destination,  he  found  not 
only  water-bibbing — bathing — and  ambulation  to  be  the 
orders  of  the  day,  but  it  was  moreover  insisted  upon,  that 
the  mind  was  to  be  relaxed  inversely  as  the  body  was  to 
be  strengthened.  During  this  severe  regimen,  he  was 
driven  to  amuse  himself  in  his  old  age  by  blowing,  as  he 
tottled  about,  a  few  literary  Bubbles.  His  hasty  sketches 
of  whatever  chanced  for  the  moment  to  please  either  his 
eyes,  or  his  mind,  were  only  made — because  he  had  nothing 
else  in  the  woi^ld  to  do  ;  and  he  now  offers  them  to  that  vast 
and  highly  respectable  class  of  people  who  read  from  ex- 
actly the  self-same  motive. 

The  critic  must,  of  course,  declare  this  production  to  be 
vain — empty — light — hollow — superficial ....  but  it  is  the 
nature  of  Bubbles  to  be  so. 

"  The  earth  hath  bubbles,  as  the  water  has, 
And  these  are  of  them." 

Macbeth.  Act  I.,  Scene  3. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2008  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/bubblesfromsomebOOheadrich 


CONTENTS 


PJIGE 

THE    VOYAGE 1 

THE    JOURNEY 11 

THE    REVEILLE 24 

THE    BATH 34 

THE    DlNNl^B. 41 

THE    PROMENADE 48 

THE    SCHWEIN-GENERAL 57 

THE    LUTHERAN    CHAPEL 63 

THE    NEW    SCHOOL 68 

THE    OLD    PROTESTANT    CHURCH 75 

THE    JEWISH    SYNAGOGUE 82 

THE   HARVEST 86 

THE    SUNSET 91 

THE   CROSS   OF    ST.    JOHN    OF   JERUSALEM 97 

THE    RENEGADE 108 

SCHLANGENBAD  ;   OR,   THE    SERPENTs'    BATH 119 

NIEOER    SELTERS 152 

THE    MONASTERY    OF    EBERBACH 156 

JOUKNEY    TO    MAINZ 178 

EXCURSION    TO    THE    NIEDERWALD 197 

WIESBADEN 208 


BUBBLES 


THE  VOYAGE. 

By  the  time  I  reached  the  Custom-house  Stairs,  the  paddles  of  the 
Rotterdam  steamboat  were  actually  in  motion,  and  I  had  scarcely 
hurried  across  a  plank,  when  I  heard  it  fall  splash  into  the  muddy 
water  which  separated  me  farther  and  farther  from  the  wharf. 
Still  later  than  myself,  passengers  were  now  seen  chasing  the 
vessel  in  boats,  and  there  was  a  confusion  on  deck,  which  I  gladly 
availed  myself  of,  by  securing,  close  to  the  helmsman,  a  corner, 
where,  muffled  in  the  ample  folds  of  an  old  boat-cloak,  I  felt 
I  might  quietly  enjoy  an  incognito  ;  for,  as  the  sole  object  of  my 
expedition  was  to  do  myself  as  much  good  and  as  little  harm  as 
possible,  I  considered  it  would  be  a  pity  to  wear  out  my  constitu- 
tion by  any  travelling  exclamations  in  the  Thames. 

The  hatches  being  now  opened,  the  huge  pile  of  trunks,  black 
portmanteaus,  and  gaudy  carpet-bags,  which  had  threatened  at 
lirst  to  obstruct  my  prospect,  was  rapidly  stowed  away ;  and,  as 
the  vessel,  hissing  and  smoking,  glided,  or  rather  scuffled,  by 
Deptford,  Greenwich,  Woolwich,  &c.,  a  very  motley  group  of 
fellow-passengers  v/ere  all  occupied  in  making  remarks  of  more 
or  less  importance.  Some  justly  prided  themselves  on  being  able 
to  read  aloud  inscriptions  on  shore,  which  others  had  declared, 
from  their  immense  distance,  to  be  illegible ; — some,  bending 
forward,  modestly  asked  for  information ;  some,  standing  particu- 
larly upright,  pompously  imparted  it.  At  times,  wondering  eyes, 
both  male  and  female,  were  seen  radiating  in  all  directions ;  then 
all  were  concentrated  on  an  approaching  sister  steamboat,  which, 
steering  an  opposite  course,  soon  rapidly  passed  us;  the  gilt 
figure  at  her  head,  the  splashing  of  the  paddles,  and  the  name 
2 


BUBBLES. 


written  over  her  stern,  occasioning  observations  which  burst  into 
existence  nearly  as  simultaneously  as  the  thunder  and  lightning 
of  heaven; — handkerchiefs  were  waved,  and  bipeds  of  both  sexes 
seemed  to  be  delighted,  save  and  except  one  mild,  gloomy,  inquisi- 
tive little  man,  who  went  bleating  like  a  lamb  from  one  fellow- 
passenger  to  another,  without  getting  even  from  me  any  answer  to 
this  harmless  question,  "  whether  we  had  or  had  not  passed  yet 
the  men  hanging  in  chains  V 

As  soon  as  we  got  below  Gravesend,  the  small  volume  of  life, 
v»'hich,  with  feelings  of  good  fellowship  to  all  men,  I  had  thus  been 
calmly  reviewing,  began  to  assume  a  graver  tone  ;  and,  as  page 
after  page  presented  itself  to  my  notice,  I  observed  that  notes  of 
interrogation  and  marks  of  admiration  were  types  not  so  often  to 
be  met  with  as  the  comma,  the  colon  .  .  .  and,  above  all,  .  .  .  the 
full  stop. 

The  v/ind,  as  it  freshened  with  the  sun,  seemed  to  check  all 
exuberance  of  fancy  ;  and,  as  the  puny  river- wave  rose,  conver- 
sation around  me  lulled  and  lulled  into  a  dead  calm.  A  few 
people,  particularly  some  ladies,  suddenly  at  last  broke  silence, 
giving  utterance  to  a  mass  of  heavy  matter-of-fact  ejaculation, 
directed  rather  to  fishes  than  to  men.  Certain  colors  in  the  pic- 
ture now  began  rapidly  to  alter — the  red  rose  gradually  looked 
like  the  lily — brown  skin  changed  itself  into  dirty  yellow,  and  I 
observed  two  heavy  cheeks  of  warm,  comfortable,  fat  flesh  gra- 
dually assume  the  appearance  of  cold  wrinkled  tallow. 

Off  Margate,  a  sort  of  hole-and-corner  system  very  soon  began 
to  prevail,  and  one  human  being  after  another,  slowly  descending 
heels  foremost,  vanished  from  deck  into  a  substratum,  or  infernal 
region,  where  there  v.'as  moaning  and  groaning,  and  gnashing  of 
teeth  ;  and,  as  head  after  head  thus  solemnly  sank  from  my  view, 
I  gradually  threw  aside  the  folds  of  my  segis,  until,  finding  my- 
self alone,  I  hailed  and  inhaled  with  pleasure  the  cool  fresh 
breeze  which  had  thus  caused  me  to  be  lefl,  as  I  wished  to  be,  by 
myself. 

The  gale  now  delightfully  increased — (ages  ago  I  had  been  too 
often  exposed  to  it  to  suffer  from  its  effect)  ; — and,  as  wave  after 
wave  became  tipped  with  white,  there  flitted  before  my  mind  a 
hundred  recollections  chasing  one  another,  which  I  never  thought 


THE  VOYAGE.  3 


to  have  re-enjoyed ; — occasionally  they  were  interrupted  by  the 
salt  spray,  and  as  it  dashed  into  my  face,  I  felt  my  lank  grizzled 
eyebrows  curl  themselves  up  as  if  they  wished  me  onco  again  to 
view  the  world  in  the  lovely  prismatic  colors  of  "  Auld  lang 
syne."  Already  was  my  cure  half  effected,  and  the  soot  of  Lon- 
don, being  thus  washed  from  my  brow,  I  felt  a  re-animation  of 
mind  and  a  vigor  of  frame  which  made  me  long  for  the  moment 
wlien,  like  the  sun  bursting  from  behind  a  cloud,  I  might  cast 
aside  my  shadowy  mantle  ;  however,  I  never  moved  from  my 
nook,  until  the  darkness  of  night  at  last  encouraging  me,  without 
fear  of  observation,  to  walk  the  deck,  "  I  paced  along  upon  the 
giddy  footing  of  the  hatches,"  till,  tired  of  these  vibrations,  I  stood 
for  a  few  moments  at  the  gangway. 

There  was  no  moon — a  star  only  here  and  there  was  to  be 
seen  ;  yet,  as  the  fire-propelled  vessel  cut  her  way,  the  paddles, 
by  shivering  in  succession  each  wave  to  atoms,  produced  a  phos- 
phoric sparkling,  resembling  immense  lanthorns  at  her  side  ;  and 
while  the:se  beacons  distinctly  proclaimed  where  the  vessel  actu- 
ally was,  a  pale  shining  stream  of  light  issued  from  her  keel, 
which,  for  a  ship's  length  or  two,  told  fainter  and  fainter  where 
she  had  been. 

The  ideas  which  rush  into  the  mind,  on  contemplating  by  night, 
out  of  sight  of  land,  the  sea,  are  as  dark,  as  mysterious,  as  unfa- 
thomable, and  as  indescribable,  as  the  vast  ocean  itself.  One 
sees  but  little — yet  that  little,  caught  here  and  there,  so  much  re- 
sembles some  of  the  attributes  of  the  Great  Power  which  created 
us,  that  the  mind,  trembling  under  the  immensity  of  tlie  concep- 
tions it  engenders,  is  lost  in  feelings  which  human  beings  cannot 
impart  to  each  other.  In  the  hurricane  which  one  meets  with  in 
southern  latitudes,  most  of  us  probably  have  looked  in  vain  for  the 
waves  which  have  been  described  to  be  "mountain-high;"  but 
though  the  outline  has  been  exaggerated,  Is  there  not  a  terror  in 
the  fdling  in  of  the  picture  wliich  no  human  artist  can  delineate  ? 
and  in  the  raging  of  the  tempest — in  the  darkness  whicli  the  light- 
ning makes  visible — who  is  there  among  us  that  has  not  fancied 
he  has  caught  a  shadow  of  the  wrath,  and  a  momentary  glimmer- 
ing of  the  mercy,  of  the  Almighty  ? 

Impressed  with  these  hackneyed  feelings,  I  slowly  returned  to 


BUBBLES. 


my  nook,  and  all  being  obscure,  except  just  the  red,  rough  coun- 
tenance of  the  helmsman,  feebly  illuminated  by  the  light  in  the 
binnacle,  I  laid  myself  down,  and  sometimes  nodding  a  little,  and 
sometimes  dozing,  I  enjoyed  for  many  hours  a  sort  of  half-sleep, 
of  which  I  stood  in  no  little  need. 

As  soon  as  we  had  crossed  the  Brill,  the  vessel  being  at  once 
in  smooth  water,  the  passengers  successively  emerged  from  theii 
graves  below,  until,  in  a  couple  of  hours,  their  ghastly  counte- 
nances all  were  on  deck. 

A  bell,  as  if  in  hysterics,  now  rung  most  violently,  as  a  signal 
to  the  town  of  Rotterdam.  The  word  of  command,  "  stop  her  !" 
was  loudly  vociferated  by  a  bluff,  short,  Dirk  Hatteraick-looking 
pilot,  who  had  come  on  board  off  the  Brill.  "Stop  her!"  was 
just  heard  faintly  echoed  from  below,  by  the  invisible,  exhausted 
sallow  being,  who  had  had,  during  the  voyage,  charge  of  the 
engine.  The  paddles,  in  obedience  to  the  mandate,  ceased — then 
gave  two  turns — ceased, — turned  once  again — paused, — gave  one 
last  struggle,  when,  our  voyage  being  over,  the  vessel's  side 
slightly  bumped  against  the  pier. 

With  a  noise  like  one  of  Congreve's  rockets,  the  now  useless 
steam  was  immediately  exploded  by  the  pale  being  below  ;  and, 
in  a  fev/  seconds,  half  the  passengers  were  seen  on  shore,  hurry- 
ing in  different  directions  about  a  town  full  of  canals  and  spirit- 
shops. 

"  Compared  with  Greece  and  Italy — Holland  is  but  a  platter- 
faced,  cold  gin-and-water  country  after  all  !"  said  I  to  myself  as 
I  entered  the  great  gate  of  the  Hotel  des  Pays  Bas  ;  "  and  a -heavy, 
barge-built,  web-footed  race  are  its  inhabitants,"  I  added,  as 
I  passed  a  huge  amphibious  vvench  on  the  stairs,  who,  with  her 
stern  towards  me,  was  sluicing  the  windows  with  water  :  "  how- 
ever, there  is  fresh  air,  and  that,  with  solitude,  is  all  I  here 
desire !"  This  frail  sentimental  sentence  was  hardly  concluded, 
when  a  Dutch  waiter  (whose  figure  I  will  not  misrepresent  by 
calling  him  "  garqon")  popped  a  long  carte,  or  bill  of  fare,  into 
my  hands,  which  severely  reproved  me  for  having  many  other 
v/ants  besides  those  so  simply  expressed  in  my  soliloquy. 

As  I  did  not  feel  equal  to  appearing  in  public,  I  had  dinner  apart 
in  my  own  room ;  and,  as  soon  as  I  came  to  that  part  of  the  cere- 


'HE  VOYAGE. 


mony  called  dessert,  I  gradually  raised  my  eyes  from  the  field  of 
battle,  until,  leaning  backwards  in  my  chair  to  ruminate,  I  could 
not  help  first  admiring,  for  a  few  moments,  the  height  and  immense 
size  of  an  apartment,  in  which  there  seemed  to  be  elbow-room 
for  a  giant. 

Close  before  the  window  was  the  great  river  upon  whose  glassy 
surface  I  had  often  and  often  been  a  traveller  ;  and,  flowing  be- 
neath me,  it  occurred  to  me,  as  I  sipped  my  wine,  that  in  its 
transit,  or  course  of  existence,  it  had  attained  at  Rotterdam,  as 
nearly  as  possible,  the  same  period  in  its  life  as  my  own.  Its 
birth,  its  froward  infancy,  and  its  wayward  youth,  were  remote 
distances  to  which  even  fancy  could  now  scarcely  re-transport  us. 
In  its  full  vigor,  the  Rhine  had  been  doomed  turbulently  to  strug- 
gle with  difiiculties  and  obstructions  which  had  seemed  almost 
capable  of  arresting  it  in  its  course  ;  and  if  there  was  now  nothing 
left  in  its  existence  worth  admiring — if  its  best  scenery  had 
vanished — if  its  boundaries  had  become  flat  and  its  banks  insipid, 
still  there  was  an  expansion  in  its  broader  surface,  and  a  deep 
settled  stillness  in  its  course,  which  seemed  to  offer  tran- 
quillity instead  of  ecstasy,  and  perfect  contentment  instead  of 
imperfect  joy.  I  felt  that  in  the  whole  course  of  the  river  there 
was  no  part  of  it  I  desired  to  exchange  for  the  water  slowly 
flowing  before  me  ;  and  though  it  must  very  shortly,  I  knew,  be 
lost  in  the  ocean,  that  great  emblem  of  eternity,  yet  in  every  yard 
of  its  existence  that  fate  had  been  foretold  to  it. 

Not  feeling  disposed  again  so  immediately  to  endure  the  con- 
finement of  a  vessel,  I  walked  out,  and  succeeded  in  hiring  a  car- 
riage, which,  in  two  days,  took  me  to  Cologne,  and  the  following 
morning  I  embarked,  at  six  o'clock,  in  another  steamboat,  which 
was  to  reach  Coblenz  in  eleven  hours. 

As  everybody,  now-a-days,  has  been  up  the  Rhine,  I  will  only 
say,  that  I  started  in  a  fog,  and,  for  a  couple  of  hours,  was  very 
coolly  enveloped  in  it.  My  compagnons  de  voyage  were  tri-color- 
ed — Dutch,  German,  and  French  ;  and,  excepting  always  myself, 
there  v/as  nothing  English — nothing,  at  least,  but  a  board,  which 
sufficiently  explained  the  hungry,  insatiable  inquisitiveness  of  our 
travellers.     The  black  speechless  thing  hung  near  the  tiller,  and 


BUBBLES. 


upon  it  there  was  painted,  in  white  letters,  the  following  sentence, 
which  I  copied  literatim  : — 

"  Enfering  any  conversation  with  the  uSteersner  and 
Pilotes  is  desired  to  be  forborn." 

On  account  of  the  fog,  we  could  see  nothing,  yet,  once  or  twice, 
we  steered  towards  the  tinkling  invitation  of  a  bell ;  stopped  for  a 
moment — took  in  passengers,  and  proceeded.  The  manner  in 
which  these  Rhine  steam-vessels  receive  and  deliver  passengers, 
carriages,  and  horses,  is  most  admirable ;  at  each  little  village, 
the  birth  of  a  new  traveller,  or  the  death  or  departure  of  an  old 
one,  does  not  detain  the  vessel  ten  seconds  ;  but  the  little  ceremony 
being  over,  on  it  instantly  proceeds,  worming  and  winding  its 
way  towards  its  destination. 

Formerly,  and  until  lately,  a  few  barges,  towed  by  horses,  were 
occasionally  seen  toiling  against  the  torrent  of  the  Rhine,  while 
immense  rafts  of  timber,  curiously  connected  together,  floated 
indolently  downwards  to  their  market ;  in  history,  therefore,  this 
uncommercial  river  was  known  principally  for  its  violence,  its 
difficulties,  and  its  dangers.  Excepting  to  the  painter,  its  points 
most  distinguished  were  those  where  armies  had  succeeded  in 
crossing,  or  where  soldiers  had  perished  in  vainly  attempting  to 
do  so ;  but  the  power  of  steam,  bringing  its  real  character  into 
existence,  has  lately  developed  peaceful  properties  which  it  Avas 
not  known  to  have  possessed.  The  stream  which  once  relent- 
lessly destroyed  mankind,  now  gives  to  thousands  their  bread ; — 
that  which  once  separated  nations,  now  brings  them  together ; — 
national  prejudices,  which,  it  was  once  impiously  argued,  this 
river  was  wisely  intended  to  maintain,  are,  by  its  waters,  now 
softened  and  decomposed :  in  short,  the  Rhine  affords  another 
proof  that  there  is  nothing  really  barren  in  creation  but  man's 
conceptions — nothing  defective  but  his  own  judgment,  and  that 
what  he  looked  upon  as  a  barrier  in  Europe,  was  created  to  become 
one  of  the  great  paves  of  the  world. 

As  the  vessel  proceeded  towards  Coblenz,  it  continually  paused 
in  its  fairy  course,  apparently  to  barter  and  traffic  in  the  prison- 
ers it  contained — sometimes  stopping  off  one  little  village,  it  ex- 


THE  VOYAGE. 


changed  an  infirm  old  man  for  two  country  girls  ;  and  then,  as  if 
laughing  at  its  bargain,  gaily  proceeding,  it  paused  before  another 
picturesque  hamlet,  to  give  three  Prussian  soldiers  of  the  36th 
regiment  for  a  husband,  a  mother,  and  a  child  ;  once  it  delivered 
an  old  woman,  and  got  nothing ; — then,  luckily,  it  received  two 
carriages  for  a  horse,  and  next  it  stopped  a  second  to  take  up  a 
tall,  thin,  itinerant  poet,  who,  as  soon  as  he  had  collected  from 
every  passenger  a  small  contribution,  for  having  recited  two  or 
three  little  pieces,  was  dropped  at  the  next  village,  ready  to  board 
the  steam  vessel  coming  down  from  Mainz. 

In  one  of  these  cartels,  or  exchanges  of  prisoners,  we  received 

on  board  Sir and  Lady ,  a  young  fashionable  English 

couple,  who  having  had  occasion,  a  fortnight  before,  to  go  toge- 
ther to  St.  George's  Church,  had  (like  dogs  suffering  from  hydro- 
phobia or  tin  canisters)  been  running  straight  forwards  ever  since. 
As  hard  as  they  could  drive,  they  had  posted  to  Dover — hurried 
across  to  Calais — thence  to  Brussels — snapped  a  glance  at  the 
ripe  corn  waving  on  the  field  of  Waterloo — stared  at  the  relics 
of  that  great  Saint,  old  Charlemagne,  on  the  iiigh  altar  of  Aix- 
la-Chapelle,  and  at  last  sought  for  rest  and  connubial  refuge  at 
Coin  ;  but  the  celebrated  water  of  that  town,  having  in  its 
manufacture  evidently  abstracted  all  perfume  from  the  atmosphere, 
they  could  not  endure  the  dirt  and  smell  of  the  place,  and  there- 
fore had  proceeded  by  land  towards  Coblenz  ;  but,  as  they  were 
changing  horses  at  a  small  village,  seeing  our  steam-boat  in  view, 
they  ordered  a  party  of  peasants  to  draw  their  carriage  to  the 
banks  of  the  river,  and  as  soon  as  our  vessel,  which  came  smok- 
ing alongside,  began  to  hiss,  they,  their  rosy,  flesh-colored  French 
maid,  their  dark,  chocolate-colored  chariot,  and  their  brown,  ill- 
looking  Italian  courier,  came  on  board. 

As  soon  as  this  young  London  couple  lightly  stepped  on  deck, 
I  saw,  at  one  glance,  that  without  at  all  priding  themselves  on 
their  abilities,  they  fancied,  and  indeed  justly  fancied,  tliat  they 
belonged  to  that  class  of  society  which,  in  England,  so  modestly 
calls  itself — good.  That  it  was  not  healthy  society — that  its  vie- 
tims  were  exposed  to  late  hours,  crowded  rooms,  and  impure  air, 
was  evident  enough  from  the  contrast  which  existed  between  their 
complexions,  and  that  of  their  healthy  country  attendant ;  how- 


BUBBLES. 


ever,  they  seemed  not  only  to  be  perfectly  satisfied  with  them- 
selves,  and  the  clique  which  they  had  left  behind  them,  but  to 
have  a  distaste  for  everything  else  they  saw.  Towards  some 
German  ladies,  who  had  slightly  bowed  to  them  as  they  passed, 
tliey  looked  with  a  vacant  haughty  stare,  as  if  they  conceived 
there  must  be  some  mistake,  and  as  if,  at  all  events,  it  would  be 
necessary  to  keep  such  people  off.  Yet,  after  all,  there  was  no 
great  harm  in  these  two  young  persons  :  that,  in  the  countries 
which  they  were  about  to  visit,  they  would  be  fitted  only  for  each 
other,  was  sadly  evident ;  however,  on  the  other  hand,  it  was  also 
evidently  their  wish  not  to  extend  their  acquaintance.  Their 
heads  were  lanterns,  illuminated  with  no  more  brains  than  barely 
sufficient  to  light  them  on  their  way  ;  and  so,  like  the  babes  in 
the  wood,  they  sat  together,  hand-in-hand,  regardless  of  every- 
thing in  creation  but  themselves. 

For  running  their  carriage  down  to  the  shore,  the  brown  confi- 
dential courier,  whose  maxim  was,  of  course,  to  pay  little  and 
charge  much,  offered  the  gang  of  peasants  some  kreuzers,  which 
amounted,  in  English  currency,  to  about  sixpence.  This  they 
refused,  and  the  captain  of  the  party,  while  arguing  with  the  flint- 
skinning  courier,  vras  actually  carried  off  by  our  steamboat, 
which,  like  time  and  tide,  waited  for  no  man.  The  poor  fellov/, 
finding  that  the  Italian  was  immoveable,  came  aft  to  the  elegant 
English  couple,  who  were  still  leaning  towards  each  other  like  the 
Siamese  boys.  He  pleaded  his  case,  stated  his  services,  declared 
his  poverty,  and,  in  a  manly  voice,  prayed  for  redress.  The 
dandy  listened — looked  at  his  boots,  which  were  evidently  pinch- 
ing him, — listened — passed  four  white  fingers  through  the  curls 
of  his  jet-black  hair — showed  the  point  of  a  pink  tongue  gently 
playing  with  a  front  tooth,  and  when  the  vulgar  story  was  at  an 
end,  without  moving  a  muscle   in  his  countenance,  in   a  sickly 

tone  of  voice,  he  pronounced  his  verdict  as  follows 

''  Allez  r 

The  creditor  tried  again,  but  the  debtor  sat  as  silent  and  as  in- 
animate as  a  corpse.  However,  all  this  time  the  steamboat 
dragging  the  poor  peasant  out  of  his  way,  he  protested  in  a  few 
angry  exclamations  against  the  injustice  with  which  he  had  been 
treated   (a   sentiment  I  Vvas  very  sorry  to  hear  more  than  once 


THE  VOYAGE. 


mildly  whispered  by  many  a  quiet-looking  German),  and  descend- 
ing the  vessel's  side  into  a  small  boat,  which  had  just  brought  us 
a  new  captive,  he  landed  at  a  village  from  which  he  had  about 
eight  miles  to  walk,  to  join  his  comrades. 

It  is  with  no  satirical  feeling  that  I  have  related  this  little  occur- 
rence. To  hurt  the  feelings  of  "  gay  beings  born  to  flutter  but  a 
day  '' — to  break  such  a  pair  of  young,  flimsy  butterflies  upon  the 
v.heel,  affords  me  neither  amusement  nor  delight ;  but  the  every- 
day occurrence  of  English  travellers  committing  our  well-earned 
national  character  for  justice  and  liberality  to  the  base,  slave- 
driving  hand  of  a  courier,  is  a  practice  which,  as  well  as  the 
bad  taste  of  acting  the  part  of  a  London  dandy  on  the  great  the- 
atre of  Europe,  ought  to  be  checked. 

As  we  proceeded  up  the  Rhine,  there  issued  from  one  of  the 
old  romantic  castles  we  were  passing  a  party  of  young  English 
lads,  whose  appearance  (as  soon  as  they  came  on  board),  did 
ample  justice  to  their  country  ;  and,  comparing  them,  while  they 
walked  the  deck,  with  the  rest  of  their  fellow-prisoners,  I  could 
not  help  more  than  once  fancying  that  I  saw  a  determination  in 
their  step,  a  latent  character  in  their  attitudes,  and  a  vigor  in  their 
young  frames,  which  being  interpreted,  said — 

"  We  dare  do  all  that  doth  become  a  man, 
He  who  dares  more— is  none  !" 

Besides  these  young  collegians,  an  English  gentleman  came  on 
board,  who  appeared  quite  delighted  to  join  their  party.  He  v  as 
a  stout  man,  of  about  fifty,  tall,  well-dressed,  evidently  wealthy, 
and  as  ruddv  as  our  mild  wholesome  air  could  make  him.  Not 
onlv  had  he  a  high  color,  but  there  was  a  net-work  of  red  veins 
in  his  cheeks,  which  seemed  as  if  not  even  death  could  drive  it 
away  :  his  face  shone  from  excessive  cleanliness,  and  though  his 
nose  certainly  was  not  long,  there  was  a  sort  of  round  bull-dog 
honestv  in  his  face,  which  it  was  quite  delightful  to  gaze  upon.  I 
overheard  this  good  man  inform  his  countrymen,  who  had  sur- 
rounded him  in  a  group,  that  he  had  never  before  been  out  of 
England — and  that,  to  tell  the  truth,  he  never  wished  to  quit  it 
again  !  "  It's  surely  beautiful  scenery  !"  observed  one  of  his  au- 


10  BUBBLES. 


ditors,  pointing  to  the  outline  of  a  ruin  which,  with  the  rock  upon 
which  it  stood,  seemed  flying  away  behind  us.  *'  Yes,  yes  !"  re- 
plied the  florid  traveller.  "  But,  Sir !  it's  the  dirtiness  of  the  peo- 
ple I  complain  of.  Their  cookery  is  dirty — they  are  dirty  in  their 
persons — dirty  in  their  habits — that  shocking  trick  of  smoking 
(pointing  to  a  fat  German  who  v/as  enjoying  this  pleasure  close 
by  his  side,  and  who  I  rather  suspect  perfectly  understood  Eng- 
lish) is  dirty — depend  upon  it,  they  are  what  we  should  call.  Sir, 
a  very  dirty  race  !"  "  Do  you  speak  the  language  ?"  said  one 
of  the  young  listeners  with  a  smile  which  was  very  awkwardly 
repressed.  "  Oh,  no  !"  replied  the  well-fed  gentleman,  laughing 
good-naturedly  ;  "I  know  nothing  of  their  language.  I  pay  for 
all  I  eat,  and  I  find,  by  paying,  I  can  get  anything  I  want. 
'  Mangez  f  cliangez  V  is  quite  foreign  language  enough,  Sir,  for 
me  ;"  and  having  to  the  firsf  word  suited  his  action,  by  pointing 
with  his  fore-finger  to  his  mouth,  and  to  explain  the  second,  hav- 
ing rubbed  his  thumb  against  the  self-same  finger,  as  if  it  were 
counting  out  money,  he  joined  the  roar  of  laughter  which  his  two 
French  words  had  caused,  and  then  very  good-naturedly  paced 
the  deck  by  himself. 

The  jagged  spires  of  Coblenz  now  came  in  sight,  and  every 
Englishman  walked  to  the  head  of  the  vessel  to  see  them,  while 
several  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  city,  with  less  curiosity,  occupied 
themselves  in  leisurely  getting  together  their  luggage.  For  a 
moment,  as  we  glided  by  the  Moselle  on  our  right,  we  looked  up 
the  course  of  that  lovely  river,  which  here  delivers  up  its  waters 
to  the  Rhine ;  in  a  few  minutes  the  bell  on  board  rang,  and  con- 
tinued to  ring,  until  we  found  ourselves  firmly  moored  to  the  pier 
of  Coblenz.  Most  of  the  passengers  went  into  the  town.  I,  hov/- 
ever,  crossing  the  bridge  of  boats,  took  up  my  quarters  at  the 
Cheval  Blanc,  a  large  hotel,  standing  immediately  beneath  that 
towering  rock  so  magnificently  crowned  by  the  celebrated  fortress 
of  Ehrenbreitstein. 


THE  JOURNEY. 


THE  JOURNEY. 


The  next  day,  starting  from  Coblenz  while  the  morning  air  was 
still  pure  and  fresh,  1  bade  adieu  to  the  picturesque  river  behind 
mo,  and  travelling  on  a  capital  macadamized  road  which  cuts 
across  the  duchy  of  Nassau  from  Coblenz  to  Mainz,  I  immediately 
began  to  ascend  the  mountains,  which  on  all  sides  were  beauti- 
fully covered  with  wood.  In  about  two  hours,  descending  into  a 
narrow  valley,  I  passed  through  Bad-Ems,  a  small  village,  which 
composed  of  hovels  for  its  inhabitants,  and,  comparatively  speak- 
ing, palaces  for  its  guests,  is  pleasantly  enough  situated  on  the 
bank  of  a  stream  of  water  (the  Lahn),  imprisoned  on  every  side 
by  mountains  v/liich  I  should  think  very  few  of  its  visitors  would 
be  disposed  to  scale  ;  and,  from  the  little  I  saw  of  this  place,  I 
must  own  I  felt  no  great  disposition  to  remain  in  it.  Its  outline, 
though  much  admired,  gives  a  cramped,  contracted  picture  of  the 
resources  and  amusements  of  the  place,  and  as  I  drove  through 
it  (my  postilion,  with  huge  orange-colored  worsted  tassels  at  his 
back,  proudly  playing  a  discordant  voluntary  on  his  horn),  I  par- 
ticularly remarked  some  stiff,  formal  little  walks,  up  and  down 
which  many  well-dressed  strangers  were  slowly  promenading  ; 
but  the  truth  is,  that  Ems  is  a  regular,  fashionable  watering- 
place. 

Many  people,  I  fully  admit,  go  there  to  drink  the  waters  only 
because  they  are  salutary,  but  a  very  great  many  more  visit  it 
from  different  motives ;  and  it  is  sad,  as  well  as  odd  enough,  that 
young  ladies  v/ho  are  in  a  consumption,  and  old  ladies  who  have 
a  number  of  gaudy  bonnets  to  display,  find  it  equally  desirable  to 
come  to  Bad-Ems.  This  mixture  of  sickness  and  finerv — this 
confusion  between  the  hectic  flush  and  red  and  white  ribands — in 


12  BUBBLES. 

short,  the  dance  of  death  is  not  the  particular  sort  of  folly  I  am 
fond  of;  and,  though  I  wish  to  deprive  no  human  being  of  his 
hobby-horse,  yet  I  must  repeat  I  was  glad  enough  to  leave  dukes 
and  duchesses,  princes  and  ambassadors  (whose  carriages  I  saw 
standing  in  one  single  narrow  street),  to  be  cooped  up  together  in 
the  hot  expensive  little  valley  of  Ems, — an  existence  to  my 
humble  taste,  not  altogether  unlike  that  which  the  foul  witch 
Sycorax  inflicted  Mpon  Ariel,  when,  "  in  her  most  unmitigable 
rage,"  she  left  him  "hitched  in  a  cloven  pine." 

On  leaving  Ems,  the  road  passing  through  the  old  mouldering 
tovv'n  of  Nassau,  and  under  the  beautiful  ruins  of  the  ducal 
Stamm-Schlosz  in  its  neighborhood,  by  a  very  steep  acclivity, 
continues  to  ascend  until  it  mounts  at  last  into  a  sort  of  upper 
country,  from  various  points  of  which  are  to  be  seen  extensive 
views  of  the  exalted  duchy  of  Nassau,  the  features  of  which  are 
on  a  very  large  scale. 

No  one,  I  think,  can  breathe  this  dry,  fresh  air  for  a  single 
moment,  or  gaze  for  an  instant  on  the  peculiar  color  of  the  sky, 
without  both  smelling  and  seeing  that  he  is  in  a  country  very 
considerably  above  the  level  of  the  sea  ;  yet  this  upper  story, 
when  it  be  once  attained,  is  by  no  means  what  can  be  termed  a 
mountainous  country.  On  the  contrary,  the  province  is  composed 
either  of  flat  table-land  abruptly  intersected  by  valleys,  or  rather 
of  an  undulation  of  hills  and  dales  on  an  immense  scale.  In  the 
great  tract  thus  displayed  to  view,  sarcely  a  habitation  is  to  be 
seen,  and  for  a  considerable  time  I  could  not  help  wondering 
what  had  become  of  the  people  who  had  sown  the  crops  (as  far 
as  I  could  see  they  were  in  solitude  waving  around  me),  and  who 
of  course  were  somewhere  or  other  lurking  in  ambush  for  the 
harvest :  however,  their  humble  abodes  are  almost  all  concealed 
in  steep  ravines,  or  watercourses,  which  in  every  direction  inter- 
sect the  whole  of  the  region  1  have  described.  A  bird's-eye  view 
would,  of  course,  detect  these  little  villages,  but  from  any  one 
point,  as  the  eye  roanis  over  the  surface,  they  are  not  to  be  seen. 
The  duchy,  which  is  completely  unenclosed,  for  there  is  not  even 
a  fence  to  the  orchards,  appears  like  a  royal  park  on  a  gigantic 
scale,  about  one-half  being  in  corn-fields  or  uncultivated  land, 
and  the   remainder  in   patclics  of  woods  and  forests,  which  in 


THE  JOURNEY.  13 


shape  and  position  resemble  artificial  plantations.     The  province, 

as  far  as  one  can  see,  thus  seems  to  declare  that  it  has  but  one 
lord  and  master,  and  the  various  views  it  presents  are  really  very 
grand  and  imposing.  A  considerable  portion  of  the  wood  grows 
among  crags  and  rocks  ;  and  among  the  open  land  there  is  a  great 
deal  of  what  is  evidently  a  mining  country,  with  much  indicating 
the  existence  of  both  iron  and  silver.  The  crops  of  wheat,  oats, 
and  barley  are  rather  light,  yet  they  are  very  much  better  than 
one  would  expect  from  the  ground  from  which  they  grow ;  but 
this  is  the  effect  of  the  extraordinarily  heavy  dews  which,  during 
the  whole  summer,  may  be  said,  once  in  twenty-four  hours,  to 
irrigate  the  land. 

The  small  steep  ravines  I  have  mentioned  are  the  most  roman- 
tic little  spots  that  can  well  be  conceived.  The  rugged  sides  of 
the  hills  which  contain  them  are  generally  clothed  with  oak  or 
beech  trees,  feathering  to  the  very  bottom,  where  a  strip  of  green, 
rich,  grassy  land  full  of  springs,  scarcely  broader  than,  and  very 
much  resembling,  the  moat  of  an  old  castle,  is  all  that  divides  the 
one  wooded  eminence  from  the  other ;  and  it  is  into  these  secluded 
gardens,  these  smiling  happy  valleys,  that  the  inhabitants  of 
Nassau  have  humbly  crept  for  shelter.  These  valleys  are  often 
scarcely  broad  enough  to  contain  the  single  street  which  forms 
the  village,  and  from  such  little  abodes,  looking  upwards,  one 
would  fancy  that  one  were  living  in  a  mountainous  country ;  but, 
climb  the  hill — break  the  little  petty  barrier  that  imprisons  you, 
and  from  the  height,  gently  undulating  before  you,  is  the  vast 
magnificent  country  I  have  described.  In  short,  in  the  two  pros- 
pects, one  reads  the  old  story— one  sees  the  common  picture  of 
human  life.  Beneath  lies  the  little  contracted  nook  in  which  we 
were  born,  studded  with  trifling  objects,  each  of  which  we  once 
fancied  to  be  highly  important ;  every  little  rock  has  its  name, 
and  every  inch  of  ground  belongs  to  one  man,  and  therefore  does 
not  belong  to  another  ;  but,  lying  prostrate  before  us,  is  a  great 
picture  of  the  world,  and  until  he  has  seen  it,  no  one  born  and 
bred  below  could  fancy  how  vast  are  its  dimensions,  or  how  truly 
insignificant  are  the  billows  of  that  puddle  in  a  storm  from  which 
he  has  somehow  or  other  managed  to  escape.  But  without  meta- 
phor, nothing  can  be  more  striking  than  the  contrast  which  exists 


14  BUBBLES. 


between  the  little  valleys  of  this  duchy,  and  the  great  country 
which  soars  above  them  ! 

With  respect  to  the  climate  of  Nassau,  without  presuming  to 
dictate  upon  that  subject,  I  will,  while  my  postilion  is  jolting  me 
along,  request  the  reader  to  decipher  for  himself  hieroglyphics 
which  I  think  sufficiently  explain  it.  In  short,  I  beg  leave  to 
offer  him  the  milk  of  information — warm  as  I  suck  it  from  the 
cow. 

At  this  moment,  everything,  see !  is  smiling ;  the  trees  are  in 
full  leaf;  the  crop  in  full  bearing.  In  no  part  of  Devonshire  or 
Herefordshire  have  I  ever  seen  such  rich  crops  of  apples,  the 
trees  being  here  surrounded  with  a  scaffolding  of  poles,  which 
after  all  seem  scarcely  sufficient  to  save  the  boughs  from  break- 
ing under  their  load  ;  but  I  ask — How  comes  the  vine  to  be 
absent  from  this  gay  scene  ?  the  low  country  and  even  the  lower 
part  of  Nassau,  w^e  all  know,  teems  with  vineyards,  and  for  some 
way  have  they  crawled  up  the  sides  of  the  mountain;  the  reason, 
therefore,  for  their  not  appearing  in  the  high  ground  is  surely  one 
very  legible  character  of  the  climate. 

Again,  at  all  the  bendingsof  the  valleys,  why  do  the  trees  appear 
so  stunted  in  their  growth  and  why  are  so  many  of  them  staghead- 
ed  ?  They  must  surely  have  some  sad  serious  reasons  for  v/ear- 
ing  this  appearance,  and  surely  any  one  may  guess  what  it  is  that 
in  the  winter  rushes  by  them  with  such  violence,  that,  instinc- 
tively, they  seem  more  anxious  to  grow  beneath  the  soil  than 
above  it.  Again,  under  that  hot,  oppress've  sun  v/hich  is  now 
hurrying  every  crop  to  maturity,  why  do  not  the  inhabitants  look 
like  Neapolitans  and  other  indolent  Lazzaroni-living  people  ? — 
how  comes  it  that  their  features  are  so  hard  1  Can  the  sun  have 
beaten  them  into  that  shape  ? 

Why  are  the  houses  they  live  in  huddled  together  in  the 
valleys,  instead  of  enjoying  'he  magnificent  prospect  before  me  ? 
Why  do  the  wealthiest  habitations  look  to  the  south,  and  why  are 
the  roofs  of  the  houses  built  or  pitched  so  perpendicularly  that  it 
seems  as  if  nothing  could  rest  upon  their  surface  ?  Why  are  the 
windows  so  small  and  the  walls  so  thick  ?  I  might  torment  my 
reader  with  many  other  questions,  such  as  why,  in  this  large 
country,  is  there  scarcely  a  bird  to  be  seen?-  but  I  dare  say  he 


THE  JOURNEY.  15 


has  already  determined  for  himself,  whether  the  lofty  province  of 
Nassau,  during  the  winter,  be  hot  or  cold  ;  in  short,  what  must 
he  its  climate  at  the  moment  when  the  Rhine  and  the  expanse  of 
low  country,  lying  about  1200  feet  beneath  it,  is  frozen  and 
covered  with  snow  ? 

Yet  whatever  may  be  the  climate  of  the  upper  country  of 
Nassau,  the  duchy,  taken  altogether,  may  fairly  be  said  to  con- 
tribute more  than  an  average  share  towards  the  luxuries  and  com- 
forts of  mankind.  Besides  fine  timber-trees  of  oak,  beech,  birch, 
and  fir,  there  are  crops  of  corn  of  every  sort,  as  well  as  potatoes 
which  would  not  be  despised  in  England  ;  several  of  the  wines 
(for  instance,  those  on  the  estates  of  Hochheim,  Eberbach,  Rud- 
esheim,  and  Johannisburg)  are  the  finest  on  the  Rhine,  while  there 
are  fruits,  such  as  apples,  pears,  cherries,  apricots,  strawberries, 
raspberries  (the  two  latter  growing  wild),  &:c.,  &c.,  in  the  greatest 
abundance. 

Not  only  are  there  mines  of  the  precious  metals  and  of  iron, 
but  there  is  also  coal,  which  we  all  know  will,  when  the  gigantic 
powers  of  steam  are  developed,  become  the  nucleus  of  every 
nation's  wealth.  In  addition  to  all  this,  the  duchy  is  celebrated 
over  the  whole  of  Germany  for  its  mineral  waters ;  and  certainly 
if  they  be  at  all  equal  to  the  reputation  they  have  acquired, 
Nassau  may  be  said  to  contribute  to  mankind  what  is  infinitely 
better  than  all  wealth,  namely — health. 

From  its  hills  burst  mineral  streams  of  various  descriptions, 
and  besides  the  Selters  or  Seltzer  water,  which  is  drunk  as  a 
luxury  in  every  quarter  of  the  globe,  there  are  bright,  sparkling 
remedies  prescribed  for  almost  every  disorder  under  the  sun  :  for 
instance,  should  the  reader  be  consumptive,  or,  what  is  much 
more  probable,  be  dyspeptic,  let  him  hurry  to  Ems ;  if  he  wishes 
to  instil  iron  into  his  ja  led  system,  and  brace  up  liis  muscles,  let 
him  go  to  Langen-Schv.albach  ;  if  his  brain  should  require  calm- 
ing, his  nerves  soothing,  and  his  skin  softening,  let  him  glide 
onwards  to  Schlangenbad — the  serpent's  bath  ;  but  if  he  should 
be  rheumatic  in  his  limbs,  or  if  mercury  should  be  running  riot 
in  his  system,  let  him  hasten,  "  body  and  bones,"  to  Wiesbaden, 
where,  they  say,  by  being  parboiled  in  the  Kochbrunnen  (boiling 
spring),  all  his  troubles  will  evaporate. 


16  BUBBLES. 


To  these  different  waters  of  Nassau  flock  annually  thousands 
and  thousands  of  people  from  all  parts  of  Germany ;  and  so 
celebrated  are  they  for  the  cures  which  they  have  effected,  that 
not  only  do  people  come  even  from  Russia,  Poland,  Denmark,  &c., 
but  a  vast  quantity  of  the  waters,  in  stone  bottles,  is  annually 
sent  to  these  remote  countries.  Yet  it  is  odd  enough,  that  the 
number  of  English,  who  have  visited  the  mineral  springs  of 
Nassau,  bears  no  proportion  to  that  of  any  other  nation  of  Europe, 
although  Spa,  and  some  other  continental  watering-places,  have 
been  much  deserted  by  foreigners,  on  account  of  the  quantity  of 
the  British  who  have  thronged  there  ;  but  somehow  or  other,  our 
country  people  are  like  locusts,  for  they  not  only  fly  in  myriads 
to  distant  countries,  but,  as  they  travel,  they  congregate  in  clouds, 
and,  therefore,  either  are  they  found  absolutely  eating  up  a  foreign 
country,  or  not  one  of  them  is  to  be  seen  there  !  How  many  thou- 
sands and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  English,  with  their  mouths, 
eyes,  and  purses  wide  open,  have  followed  each  other,  in  mourn- 
ful succession,  up  and  down  the  Rhine  ;  and  yet,  though 
Nassau  has  stood  absolutely  in  their  path,  I  believe  I  may 
assert  that  not  twenty  families  have  taken  up  their  abode  at 
Langen-Schwalbach  or  Schlangenbad  in  the  course  of  the  last 
twenty  years ;  and  yet  there  is  no  country  on  earth  that  could 
turn  out  annually  more  consumptive,  rheumatic,  and  dyspeptic 
patients  than  old  England  !  In  process  of  time,  the  little  duchy 
will,  no  doubt,  be  as  well  known  as  Cheltenham,  Malvern,  &c. ; 
however,  until  fashion,  that  painted  direction-post,  points  her 
finger  towards  it,  it  will  continue  (so  far  as  we  are  concerned)  to 
exist,  as  it  really  does,  in  nuhibus. 

There  are  56,712  human  habitations  in  the  duchy  of  Nassau, 
and  355,815  human  beings  to  live  in  them.  Of  these,  188,244 
are  Protestants,  161,535  are  Catholics;  there  are  191  Mennon- 
ites  or  dissenters  ;  and  scattered  among  these  bleak  hills,  just  as 
their  race  is  mysteriously  scattered  over  the  face  of  the  globe, 
there  are  5845  Jews.  The  Duke  of  Nassau  is  the  cacique,  king, 
emperor,  or  commander-in-chief  of  the  province  ;  and  people 
here  are  everlastingly  talking  of  the  Duke,  as  in  England  they 
talk  of  the  sun,  the  moon,  or  any  other  luminary  of  which  there 
exists  only  one  in  our  system.     He  is  certainly  the  sovereign  lord 


THE  JOURNEY.  17 


of  this  lofty  country ;  and  travelling  along,  I  have  just  observed 
a  certain  little  bough  sticking  out  of  every  tenth  sheaf  of  corn, 
the  meaning  of  which  is,  no  doubt,  perfectly  well  understood  both 
by  him  and  the  peasant :  in  short,  in  all  the  principal  villages 
there  are  barns  built  on  purpose  for  receiving  this  tribute,  with  a 
man,  paid  by  the  Duke,  for  collecting  it. 

In  approaching  Langen-Schwalbach,  being  of  course  anxious, 
as  early  as  possible,  to  get  a  glimpse  of  a  town  which  I  had 
already  determined  to  inhabit  for  a  few  days,  I  did  all  in  my 
power  to  explain  this  feeling  to  the  dull,  gaudy  fellow  who  drove 
me  ;  but  whenever  I  inquired  for  Langen-Schwalbach,  so  often 
did  the  mute  creature  point  with  a  long  German  whip  to  the  open 
country,  as  if  it  existed  directly  before  him  ;  but,  no,  not  a  human 
habitation  could  I  discover  !  However,  as  I  proceeded  onwards,  the 
whip,  in  reply  to  my  repeated  interrogatories  to  its  dumb  owner, 
began  to  show  a  sort  of  magnetical  dip,  until,  at  last,  it  pointed 
almost  perpendicularly  downwards  into  a  ravine,  which  was 
now  imm.ediately  beneath  me ;  yet  though  I  could  see,  as  I 
thought,  almost  to  the  bottom  of  it,  still  not  a  vestige  of  a  town 
was  to  be  seen.  However,  the  whip  was  quite  right,  for,  in  a 
very  few  seconds,  peeping  up  from  the  very  bottom  of  the  valley, 
I  perceived,  like  poplar  trees,  a  couple  of  church  steeples  ;  then 
suddenly  came  in  sight  a  long  narrow  village  of  slated  roofs,  and, 
in  a  very  few  seconds,  I  found  my  carriage  rattling  and  trumpet- 
ing along  a  street,  until  it  stopped  at  the  Goldene  Kette,  or,  as  we 
should  call  it,  the  Golden  Chain. 

The  master  of  this  hotel  appeared  to  be  a  most  civil,  obliging 
person  ;  and  though  his  house  was  nearly  full,  yet  he  suddenly 
felt  so  much  respect  either  for  me  or  for  the  contents  of  my  wal- 
let— which,  in  descending  from  the  carriage,  I  had  placed,  lor  a 
moment,  in  his  hands — that  he  used  many  arguments  to  persuade 
us  both  to  become  noble  appendages  to  his  fine  Golden  Chain : 
yet  there  were  certain  noises,  uncertain  smells,  and  a  degree  of 
bustle  in  his  house  which  did  not  at  all  suit  me  ;  and,  therefore, 
at  once,  mercifully  annihilating  his  hopes  by  a  grave  bow  which 
could  not  be  misinterpreted,  I  slowly  walked  into  the  street  to 
select  for  myself  a  private  lodging,  and,  for  a  considerable  time, 
experienced  very  great  difficulty.     With  hands  clasped  behind 


18  BUBBLES. 


me,  in  vain  did  I  slowly  stroll  about,  looking  out  for  anything  at 
all  like  a  paper  or  a  board  in  a  window  ;  and  I  was  beginning  to 
fear  that  there  were  no  lodging-houses  in  the  town,  when  I  at  last 
found  out  that  there  were  very  few  which  were  not.  I  therefore 
selected  a  clean,  quiet-looking  dwelling  ;  and,  finding  the  inside 
equal  to  the  out,  I  at  once  engaged  apartments. 

The  next  morning  (having  been  refreshed  by  a  good  night's 
rest),  1  put  a  small  note-book  into  my  pocket,  and  having  learnt 
that  in  the  whole  valley  there  was  no  English  blood,  except  the 
little  that  was  within  my  own  black  silk  waistcoat,  I  felt  that, 
without  fear  of  interruption,  I  might  go  where  I  liked,  do  what  I 
liked,  and  sketch  the  outline  of  wdiatever  either  pleased  my  eye 
or  amused  my  fancy.  My  first  duty,  however,  evidently  was  to 
understand  the  geography  of  the  town,  or  rather  village,  of  Lan- 
gen-Schwalbach,  which  I  found  to  be  in  the  shape  of  the  letter 
Y,  or  (throwing,  as  I  wish  to  do,  literature  aside)  of  a  long-handled 
two-prcnged  fork.  The  village  is  1500  paces  in  length — that  is 
to  say,  the  prongs  are  each  about  500  yards,  and  the  lower  street, 
or  handle  of  the  fork,  is  about  1000  yards. 

On  the  first  glimpse  of  the  buildings  from  the  heights,  my  eyes 
had  been  particularly  attracted  by  high,  irregular  slated  roofs, 
many  of  which  were  fantastically  ornamented  with  little  spires, 
about  two  feet  high,  but  it  now  appeared  that  the  buildings  them- 
selves were  constructed  even  more  irregularly  than  their  roofs. 
The  village  is  composed  of  houses  of  all  sizes,  shapes,  and  colors  ; 
some,  having  been  lately  plastered,  and  painted  yellow,  white,  or 
pale  gi'i-en,  have  a  modern  appearance,  while  others  wear  a  dress 
about  as  old  as  the  hills  which  surround  them.  Of  these  latter, 
some  are  standing  with  their  sides  towards  the  streets,  others  look 
at  you  with  their  gables  ;  some  overhang  the  passenger,  as  if  they 
intended  to  crush  him ;  some  shrink  backwards,  as  if,  like  mis- 
anthrop€;s,  they  loathed  him,  or,  like  maidens,  they  feared  him  ; 
some  lean  sideways,  as  if  they  were  suffering  from  a  painful  dis- 
order in  their  hips  ;  many,  apparently  from  curiosity,  have  ad- 
vanced, while  a  few,  in  disgust,  have  retired  a  step  or  two. 

All  the  best  dwellings  in  the  town  are  "  hofs,"  or  lodging- 
houses,  having  jalousies,  or  Venetian  blinds,  to  the  windows  ;  and 
I  must  own  I  did  not  expect  to  find  in  so  remote  a  situation  houses 


THE  JOURNEY.  19 


of  such  large  dimensions.  For  instance,  the  Allee  Saal  has 
nineteen  windows  in  front;  the  great  "  Indien  Hof"  is  three 
stories  high,  with  sixteen  windows  in  each  ;  the  "  Pariser  Hof* 
has  twelve,  and  several  others  have  eight  and  ten. 

Of  late  years  a  number  of  the  largest  houses  have  been  plas- 
tered on  the  outside,  but  the  appearance  of  the  rest  is  highly  pic- 
turesque. They  are  built  of  wood  and  unburnt  bricks,  but  the 
immense  quantity  of  timber  which  has  been  consumed  would 
clearly  indicate  tlie  vicinity  of  a  large  forest,  even  if  one  could 
not  see  its  dark  foliage  towering  on  every  side  above  the  town. 
Wood  having  been  of  so  little  value,  it  has  been  crammed  into 
the  houses,  as  if  the  builder's  object  had  been  to  hide  away  as 
much  of  it  as  possible.  The  whole  fabric  is  a  network  of  timber 
of  all  lengths,  shapes,  and  sizes  ;  and  these  limbs,  sometimes 
rudely  sculptured,  often  bent  into  every  possible  contortion,  form 
a  confused  picture  of  rustic  architecture,  which,  amid  such  wild 
mountain  scenery,  one  cailnot  refuse  to  admire.  The  interstices 
between  all  this  woodwork  are  filled  up  with  brown,  unburnt 
bricks,  so  soft  and  porous,  that  in  our  moist  climate  they  svould 
in  one  winter  be  decomposed,  while  a  very  few  seasons  would  also 
rot  the  timbers  which  they  connect :  however,  such  is  evidently 
the  dryness  of  mountain  air,  that  buildings  can  exist  here  in  this 
rude  state,  and  indeed  have  existed,  for  several  hundred  years, 
with  the  woodwork  unpainted. 

In  rambling  about  the  three  streets,  one  is  surprised,  at  first,  at 
observing  that  apparently  there  is  scarcely  a  shop  in  the  town  ! 
Before  three  or  four  windows,  carcasses  of  sheep,  or  of  young 
calves  but  a  few  days  old,  are  seen  hanging  by  their  heels ;  and 
loaves  of  bread  are  placed  for  sale  before  a  very  few  doors  ;  but, 
generally  speaking,  the  dwellings  are  either  "  Hofs  "  for  lodg- 
ers, or  they  appear  to  be  a  set  of  nondescript  private-houses ; 
nevertheless,  by  patiently  probing,  the  little  shop  is  at  last  discov- 
ered. In  one  of  these  secluded  dens  one  can  buy  coffee,  sugar, 
butter,  nails,  cotton,  chocolate,  ribands,  brandy,  etc.  Still,  how- 
ever, there  is  no  external  display  of  any  such  articles,  for  the 
crowd  of  rich  people  who,  like  the  swallows,  visit  during  the 
summer  weeks  the  sparkling  water  of  Langr'n-Schwall)acli,  live 
at  "  hofs,"  whose  proprietors  well  enough  know  where  to  search 


20  BUBBLES. 

for  what  they  want.  During  so  short  a  residence  these  fashion- 
able visitors  require  no  new  clothes,  nails,  brimstone,  or  coarse 
linen.  It  is,  therefore,  useless  for  the  little  shopkeeper  to  attempt 
to  gain  ilietr  custom  ;  and  as,  during  the  rest  of  the  year,  the 
village  exists  in  simplicity,  quietness,  and  obscurity,  the  inhabit- 
ants knowing  each  other,  require  neither  signs  nor  inscriptions. 
Peasants  coming  to  Langen-Schwalbach  from  other  villages, 
inquire  for  the  sort  of  shop  which  will  suit  them  ;  or  if  they  want 
(as  they  generally  do)  tobacco,  oil,  or  some  rancid  commodity, 
their  noses  are  quite  intelligent  enough  to  lead  them  to  the  doors 
they  ought  to  enter  ;  indeed,  I  myself  very  soon  found  that  it  was 
quite  possible  thus  to  hunt  for  my  own  game. 

I  have  already  stated  that  Langen-Schwalbach  is  like  a  kitchen 
fork,  the  handle  of  which  is  the  lower  or  old  part  -of  the  town ; 
the  prongs  representing  two  streets  built  in  ravines,  down  each  of 
which  a  small  stream  of  water  descends.  The  Stahl  brunnen 
(steel  spring)  is  at  the  head  of  the  town,  at  the  upper  extremity  of 
the  right  prong.  Close  to  the  point  of  the  other  prong  is  the  Wein 
brunnen  (wine  spring),  and  about  600  yards  up  the  same  valley 
is  situated  the  fashionable  brunnen  of  Pauline.  Between  these 
three  points,  brunnens,  or  wells,  the  visitors  at  Langen-Schwal- 
bach, Vv'ith  proper  intervals  for  rest  and  food,  are  everlastingly 
vibrating.  Backwards  and  forwards,  "  down  the  middle  and  up 
again,"  the  strangers  are  seen  walking,  or  rather  crawling,  with 
a  constancy  that  is  really  quite  astonishing.  Among  the  number 
there  may  be  here  and  there  a  Ccelebs  in  search  of  a  wife,  and  a 
very  few  sets  of  much  smaller  feet  may,  impart  passu,  be  occa- 
sionally seen  pursuing  nothing  but  their  mammas  ;  however, 
generally  speaking,  the  whole  troop  is  chasing  one  and  the  same 
game  :  they  are  all  searching  for  the  same  treasure — in  short, 
they  are  seeking  for  health  :  but  it  is  now  necessary  that  the 
reader  should  be  informed  by  what  means  they  hope  to  attain  it. 

In  the  time  of  the  Romans,  Schwalbach,  which  means  literally 
the  swallow's  stream,  was  a  forest  containing  an  immense  sul- 
phurous fountain  famed  for  its  medicinal  effects.  In  proportion 
as  it  rose  into  notice,  hovels,  huts,  and  houses  were  erected ;  until 
a  small  street  or  village  was  thus  gradually  established  on  tlio 
north  and  south   of  the  well.     There  was  little  to  offer  to  the 


THE  JOURNEY.  21 


stranger  but  its  waters  ;  yet,  health  being  a  commodity  which 
people  have  always  been  willing  enough  to  purchase,  the  mcdi-  - 
cine  was  abundantly  drunk,  and  in  the  same  proportion  the  little 
hamlet  continued  to  grow,  until  it  justly  attained  and  claimed  for 
itself  the  ap|5ellation  of  Langen  (long)  Schwalbach. 

About  sixty  years  ago  the  Stahl  and  Wein  brunnens  were  dis- 
covered. The  springs  were  found  to  be  quite  different  from  the 
old  one,  inasmuch  as,  instead  of  being  only  sulphurous,  they  were 
both  strongly  impregnated  with  iron  and  carbonic  acid  gas.  In- 
stead, therefore,  of  merely  purifying  the  blood,  they  boldly  under- 
took to  strengthen  the  human  frame ;  and,  in  proportion  as  they 
attracted  notice,  so  the  old  original  brunnen  became  neglected. 
About  three  years  ago  a  new  spring  was  discovered  in  the  valley 
above  the  Wein  brunnen  ;  this  did  not  contain  quite  so  much  iron 
as  the  Stahl  or  Wein  brunnen  ;  but  possessing  other  ingredients 
(among  them  that  of  novelty)  which  were  declared  to  be  more 
salutary,  it  was  patronized  by  Dr.  Fenner,  as  being  preferable  to 
the  brimstone  as  well  as  other  brunnens  in  the  country.  It  was 
accordingly  called  Pauline,  after  the  present  Duchess  of  Nassau, 
and  is  now  the  fashionable  brunnen,  or  well  of  Langen  Schwal- 
bach. 

The  village  doctors,  however,  disagree  on  the  subject ;  and 
Dr.  Stritter,  a  very  mild,  sensible  man,  recommends  his  patients 
to  the  strong  Stahl  brunnen,  almost  as  positively  as  Dr.  Fenner 
sentences  his  victims  to  the  Pauline.  Which  is  right,  and  which 
is  wrong,  is  one  of  the  mysteries  of  this  world  ;  but  as  the  cunning 
Jews  all  go  to  the  Stahl  brunnen,  I  strongly  suspect  tliat  they  have 
some  good  reason  for  this  departure  from  the  fashion. 

As  I  observed  people  of  all  shapes,  ages,  and  constitutions 
swallov/ing  the  waters  of  Langen-Schwalbach,  I  felt  that,  being 
absolutely  on  the  brink  of  the  brunnen,  I  might,  at  least  as  an 
experiment,  join  this  awkward  squad — that  it  would  be  quite  time 
enough  to  desert  if  I  should  find  reason  to  do  so — in  short,  that  by 
trying  the  waters  I  should  have  a  su^er  proof  whether  they  agreed 
with  nie  or  not,  than  by  listening  to  the  conflicting  opinions  of 
all  tiie  ^.octors  in  the  universe.  However,  not  knowing  exactly 
in  what  quantities  to  take  them, — having  learnt  that  Dr.  Fenner 
himself  had  the  greatest  number  oi  patients,  and  that  moreover 


22  BUBBLES. 


being  a  one-eyed  man  he  was  much  tlie  easiest  to  be  found,  I 
walked  towards  the  shady  walk  near  the  Allee  Saal,  resolving 
eventually  to  consult  him ;  however,  in  turning  a  sharp  corner, 
happening  almost  to  run  against  a  gentleman  in  black,  "  cui 
lumen  ademptum,"  I  gravely  accosted  him,  and  finding,  as  I  did 
in  one  moment,  that  I  was  right,  in  the  middle  of  the  street  I 
began  to  explain  .that  he  saw  before  him  a  wheel  that  wanted  a 
new  tire, — a  shoe  which  required  a  new  sole — a  worn-out  vessel 
seeking  the  hand  of  the  tinker ;  in  short,  that  feeling  very  old,  I 
merely  wanted  to  become  young  again. 

Dr.  Fenner  is  what  would  be  called  in  England  "  a  regular 
character,'"'  and  being  a  shrewd,  clever  fellow,  he  evidently  finds 
it  answer,  and  endeavors  to  maintain  a  singularity  of  manner, 
which  witli  his  one  eye  (the  other  having  been  extinguished  in  a 
college  duel)  serves  to  bring  him  into  general  notice.  As  soon  as 
my  gloomy  tale  was  concluded,  the  Doctor,  who  had  been  patient- 
ly walking  at  my  side,  stopped  dead  short,  and  when  I  turned 
round  to  look  for  him,  there  I  saw  him  with  his  right  arm  extend- 
ed, its  fore-finger  and  thumb  clenched,  as  if  holding  snufF,  while 
its  other  three  digits  horizontally  extended  like  the  hand  of  a 
direction-post.  With  his  heels  close  together,  he  stood  as  lean 
and  as  erect  as  a  ramrod,  the  black  patch  which  like  a  hatchment 
hung  over  the  window  of  his  departed  eye  being  supported  by  a 
riband  wound  diagonally  round  his  head.  "  Monsieur  !"  said  he 
(for  he  speaks  a  little  French),  "  Monsieur  !"  he  repeated,  "  a  six 
heures  du  matin  vous  prendrez  a  la  Pauline  trois  verres!  trois  verres 
a  la  Pauline  !"  he  repeated.  "  A  dix  heures  vous  prendrez  un  bain 
— en  sortant  du  bain  vous  prendrez  .  .  .  (he  paused,  and  after 
several  seconds  of  deep  thought,  he  added)  .  .  .  encore  deux 
verres,  et  a  cinq  heures  du  soir,  Monsieur,  vous  prendrez  .  .  . 
(another  long  pause)  .  .  .  encore  trois  verres  I  Monsieur  !  ces 
eaux  vous  feront  beaucoup  de  bien ! !" 

The  arm  of  the  sibyl  now  fell  to  his  side,  like  the  limb  of  a 
telegraph  which  had  just  concluded  its  intelligence.  The  Doctor 
made  me  a  low  bow,  spun  round  upon  his  heel,  "  and  so  he  van- 
ished." 

I  had  not  exactly  bargained  for  bathing  in,  as  well  as  drinking, 
the  waters  ;  however,  feeling  in  great  good-humor  with  the  little 


THE  JOURNEY.  23 


world  I  was  inhabiting,  I  was  willing  to  go  with  (i.  e.  info)  its 
stream,  and  as  I  found  that  almost  every  visitor  was  daily  soaked 
for  an  hour  or  two,  I  could  not  but  admit  that  what  was  prescrib- 
ed  for  such  geese,  might  also  be  very  good  sauce  for  the  gander ; 
and  that  at  all  events  a  bath  would  at  least  have  the  advantage  of 
drowning  for  me  one  hour  per  day,  in  case  I  should  find  fbur-and- 
twenty  of  such  visitors  more  than  I  wanted. 

In  a  very  few  days  I  got  quite  accustomed  to  what  a  sailor  would 
call  the  "  fresh  water  life  "  which  had  been  prescribed  for  me  ; 
and  as  no  clock  in  the  universe  could  be  more  regular  than  my 
behavior,  an  account  of  one  day's  performances,  multiplied  by  the 
number  I  remained,  will  give  the  reader,  very  nearly,  the  history 
or  picture  of  an  existence  at  Langen-Schwalbach. 


84  BUBBLES. 


THE  REVEILLE. 


At  a  quarter-past  five  I  arose,  and  as  soon  after  as  possible  left 
the  "  hof."  Every  house  was  open,  the  streets  already  swept, 
the  inhabitants  all  up,  the  living  world  appeared  broad  awake, 
and  there  was  nothing  to  denote  the  earliness  of  the  hour,  but  the 
delicious  freshness  of  the  cool  mountain  air,  which  as  yet,  unen- 
feebled  by  the  sun,  just  beaming  above  the  hill,  was  in  that  pure 
state  in  which  it  had  been  all  night  long  slumbering  in  the  valley. 
The  face  of  nature  seemed  beaming  with  health,  and  though  there 
were  no  larks  at  Schwalbach  gently  "  to  carol  at  the  morn,"  yet 
immense  red  German  slugs  were  everywhere  in  my  path,  looking 
wetter,  colder,  fatter,  and  happier  than  they  or  I  have  words  to 
express.  They  had  evidently  been  gorging  themselves  during 
the  night,  and  were  now  crawling  into  shelter  to  sleep  away  the 
day.  « 

As  soon  as,  getting  from  beneath  the  shaded  walk  of  the  Allee 
Saal,  I  reached  the  green  valley  leading  to  the  Pauline  brunnen, 
it  was  quite  delightful  to  look  at  the  grass,  as  it  sparkled  in  the 
sun,  every  green  blade  being  laden  with  dew  in  such  heavy  par- 
ticles, that  there  seemed  to  be  quite  as  much  water  as  grass ;  in- 
deed the  crop  was  actually  bending  under  the  weight  of  nourish- 
ment which,  during  the  deep  silence  of  night.  Nature  had  libe- 
rally imparted  to  it ;  and  it  was  evident  that  the  sun  would  have 
to  rise  high  in  the  heavens  before  it  could  attain  strength  enough 
to  rob  the  turf  of  this  fertilizing  and  delicious  treasure. 

At  this  early  hour,  I  found  but  few  people  on  the  walks,  and 
on  reaching  the  brunnen,  the  first  agreeable  thing  I  received  there 
was  a  smile  from  a  very  honest,  homely,  healthy,  old  woman, 
who  having  seen  me  approaching,  had  selected  from  her  table  my 
glass,  the  handle  of  which  she  had  marked  by  a  piece  of  tape. 


THE  REVEILLE.  25 


"  Guten  morgen  !"  she  muttered,  and  then,  without  at  all  de- 
ranging  the  hospitality  of  her  smile,  stooping  down,  she  dashed 
the  vessel  into  the  brunnen  beneath  her  feet,  and  in  a  sort  of  civil 
hurry  (lest  any  of  its  spirit  should  escape),  she  presented  me 
with  a  glass  of  her  eau  m6dicinale.  Clear  as  crystal,  sparkling 
with  carbonic  acid  gas,  and  etTervescing  quite  as  much  as  cham- 
paa:ne,  it  was  nevertheless  miserably  cold ;  and  the  first  morning, 
what  with  the  gas,  and  what  with  the  cold  temperature  of  this 
cold  iron  water,  it  wa^  about  as  much  as  I  could  do  to  swallow 
it  ;  and,  for  a  few  seconds,  feeling  as  if  it  had  sluiced  my  stom- 
ach completely  by  surprise,  I  stood  hardly  knowing  what  vv'as 
about  to  happen,  when,  instead  of  my  teeth  chattering,  as  I  ex- 
pected, I  felt  the  water  suddenly  grow  warm  within  my  waistcoat, 
and  a  slight  intoxication,  or  rather  exhilaration  succeeded. 

As  T  have  always  had  an  unconquerable  aversion  to  walking 
backwards  and  forwards  on  a  formal  parade,  as  soon  as  I  had 
drunk  my  first  glass  I  at  once  commenced  ascending  the  hill 
which  rises  immediately  from  the  brunnen.  Paths  in  zigzags  are 
cut  in  various  directions  through  the  wood,  but  so  steep,  that  very 
few  of  the  water-drinkers  like  to  encounter  them.  I  found  the 
trees  to  be  oak  and  beech,  the  ground  beneath  being  covered 
with  grass  and  heather,  among  which  were,  growing  wild,  quan- 
tities of  ripe  strawberries  and  raspberries.  The  large  red  snails 
were  in  great  abundance,  and  immense  black  beetles  were  also  in 
the  paths,  heaving  at,  and  pushing  upwards,  round  balls  of  dung, 
&c.,  very  much  bigger  than  themselves  ;  the  grass  and  heather 
were  soaked  with  dew,  and  even  the  strawberries  looked  much 
too  wet  to  be  eaten.  However,  I  may  observe,  that  while  drink- 
ing mineral  waters,  all  fruit,  wet  or  dry,  is  forbidden.  Smother- 
ed up  in  wood,  there  was,  of  course,  nothing  to  be  seen  ;  but  as 
soon  as  I  gained  the  summit  of  the  hill,  a  very  pretty  hexagonal 
rustic  hut,  built  of  trees  with  the  bark  on,  and  thatched  with 
heather,  presented  itself.  The  sides  were  open,  excepting  two, 
which  were  built  up  of  sticks  and  moss.  A  rough  circular  table 
was  in  the  middle,  upon  which  two  or  three  young  people  had 
cut  their  names  ;  and  round  the  inner  circumference  of  the  hut 
there  was  a  bench,  on  which  I  was  glad  enough  to  rest,  while  I 
enjoyed  the  extensive  prospect. 


26  BUBBLES. 


The  features  of  this  picture,  so  different  from  anything  to  be 
seen  in  England,  were  exceedingly  large,  and  the  round  rolling 
clouds  seemed  bigger  even  than  the  distant  mountains  upon  \vhich 
they  rested.  Not  a  fence  was  to  be  seen,  but  dark  patches  of 
wood,  of  various  shapes  and  sizes,  were  apparently  dropped  down 
upon  the  cultivated  surface  of  the  country,  which,  as  far  as  the 
eye  could  reach,  looked  like  the  fairy  park  of  some  huge  giant. 
In  the  foreground,  however,  small  fields,  and  little  narrow  strips 
of  land,  denoted  the  existence  of  a  great  number  of  poor  proprie- 
tors ;  and  even  if  Langen-Schwalbach  had  not  been  seen  crouch- 
ing at  the  bottom  of  its  deep  valley,  it  would  have  been  quite  evi- 
dent that,  in  the  immediate  neighborhood,  there  must  be,  some- 
where or  other,  a  town  ;  for,  in  many  places,  the  divisions  of  land 
were  so  small,  that  one  could  plainly  distinguish  provender  grow- 
ing for  the  poor  man's  cow, — the  little  patch  of  rye  which  was  to 
become  bread  for  his  children, — and  the  half-acre  of  potatoes 
which  was  to  help  them  through  the  winter.  Close  to  the  town 
these  divisions  and  sub-divisions  were  exceedingly  small ;  but 
when  every  little  family  had  been  provided  for,  the  fields  grew 
larger ;  and,  at  a  short  distance  from  where  I  sat,  there  were 
crops,  ripe  and  waving,  which  were  evidently  intended  for  a 
larger  and  more  distant  market. 

As  soon  as  I  had  sufficiently  enjoyed  the  freshness  and  the 
freedom  of  this  interesting  landscape,  it  was  curious  to  look  down 
from  the  hut  upon  the  walk  which  leads  from  the  Allee  Saal  to 
the  brunnen  or  well  of  Pauline ;  for,  by  this  time,  all  ranks 
of  people  had  arisen  from  their  beds,  and  the  sun  being  now  warm, 
the  heau  monde  of  Langen-Schwalbach  was  seen  slowly  loitering 
up  and  down  the  promenade. 

At  the  rate  of  about  a  mile  and  a  half  an  hour,  I  observed 
several  hundred  quiet  people  crawling  through  and  fretting  away 
that  narrow  portion  of  their  existence  which  lay  between  one 
glass  of  cold  iron  water  and  another.  If  an  individual  were  to  be 
sentenced  to  such  a  life,  which  in  fact  has  all  the  fatigue  without 
the  pleasing  sociability  of  the  tread-mill,  he  would  call  it  melan- 
choly beyond  endurance  ;  yet  there  is  no  pill  which  fashion  cannot 
gild,  or  which  habit  cannot  sweeten.  I  remarked  that  the  men 
were  dressed,  generally,  in  loose,  ill-made,  snuff-colored  great 


THE  REVEILLE.  27 


coats,  with  awkward  travelling  caps,  of  various  shapes,  instead 
of  hats.  The  picture,  therefore,  taking  it  altogether,  was  a 
homely  one ;  but,  although  there  were  no  particularly  elegant 
or  fashionable-looking  people,  altliough  their  gait  was  by  no 
means  attractive,  yet  even,  from  the  lofty  distant  hut,  I  felt  it  was 
impossible  to  help  admiring  the  good  sense  and  good  feeling 
with  which  all  the  elements  of  this  German  community 
appeared  to  be  harmonizing  one  with  the  other.  There  was 
no  jostling,  or  crowding ;  no  apparent  competition ;  no  turning 
round  to  stare  at  strangers.  There  was  no  "  martial  look  nor 
lordly  stride,"  but  real  genuine  good  breeding  seemed  natural 
to  all :  it  is  true  there  was  nothing  wliich  bore  a  very  high  aristo- 
cratic  polish  :  yet  it  was  equally  evident  that  the  substance  of 
their  society  was  intrinsically  good  enough  not  to  require  it. 

The  behavior  of  such  a  motley  assemblage  of  people,  who 
belonged,  of  course,  to  all  ranks  and  conditions  of  life,  in  my 
humble  opinion,  did  them  and  their  country  very  great  credit.  Ii 
was  quite  evident  that  every  man  on  the  promenade,  whatever 
might  have  been  his  birth,  was  desirous  to  behave  like  a  gentle- 
man ;  and  that  there  was  no  one,  however  exalted  might  be  his 
station,  who  wished  to  do  any  more. 

That  young  lady,  rather  more  quietly  dressed  than  the  rest  of 
her  sex,  is  the  Princess  Leuenstein  ;  her  countenance  (could  it 
but  be  seen  from  the  hut)  is  as  unassuming  as  her  dress,  and  her 
manners  as  quiet  as  her  bonnet.  Her  husband,  who  is  one  of  the 
group  of  gentlemen  behind  her,  is  mild,  gentleman-like,  and  (if  in 
these  days  such  a  title  may,  without  offence,  be  given  to  a  young 
man),  I  would  add — he  is  modest. 

There  are  one  or  two  other  princes  on  the  promenade,  with  a 
very  fair  sprinkling  of  dukes,  counts,  barons,  &c. 

"  There  they  go,  all  together  in  a  row  !" 

but  though  they  congregate, — though  like  birds  of  a  feather  they 
flock  together,  is  there,  I  ask,  anything  arrogant  in  their  behavior  ? 
and  that  respect  which  they  meet  with  from  every  one,  does  it  not 
seem  to  be  honestly  their  due?  That  uncommonly  awkward, 
short,  little  couple  who  walk  holding  each  other  by  the  hand,  and 
who,  apropos  to  nothing,  occasionally  break  playfully  into  a  trot, 


28  BUBBLES. 


are  a  Jew  and  Jewess  lately  married  ;  and,  as  it  is  whispered  that 
they  have  some  mysterious  reason  for  drinking  the  waters,  the 
uxorious  anxiety  with  which  the  little  man  presents  the  glass  of 
cold  comfort  to  his  herring-made  partner  does  not  pass  completely 
unobserved.  That  slow  gentleman,  with  such  an  immense  body, 
who  seems  to  be  acquainted  with  the  most  select  people  on  the 
walk,  is  an  ambassador,  who  goes  nowhere — no,  not  even  to 
mineral  v/aters,  without  his  French  cook, — a  circumstance  quite 
enough  to  make  everybody  speak  well  of  him — a  very  honest, 
good-natured  man  he  seem.s  to  be  ;  but  as  he  walks,  can  anything 
be  more  evident  than  that  his  own  cook  is  killing  him,  and  what 
possible  benefit  can  a  few  glasses  of  cold  water  do  to  a  corporation 
which  Falstaff 's  belt  would  be  too  short  to  encircle  ? 

Often  and  often  have  I  pitied  Diogenes  for  having  lived  in  a 
tub ;  but  this  poor  ambassador  is  infinitely  worse  off,  for  the  tub, 
it  is  too  evident,  lives  in  him,  and  carry  it  about  with  him  he 
must  wherever  he  goes ;  but,  without  smiling  at  any  more  of  my 
water  companions,  it  is  time  I  should  descend  to  drink  my  second 
and  third  glass.  One  would  think  that  this  deluge  of  cold  water 
would  leave  little  room  for  tea  and  sugar  ;  but  miraculous  as  it 
may  sound,  by  the  time  I  got  to  my  "  Hof,"  there  was  as  much 
stowage  in  the  vessel  as  when  she  sailed  ;  besides  this,  the  steel 
created  a  rebellious  appetite  which  it  was  very  difficult  to  govern. 

As  soon  as  breakfast  was  over,  I  generally  enjoyed  the  luxury 
of  idling  about  the  tov/n  ;  and,  in  passing  the  shop  of  a  blacksmith, 
who  lived  opposite  to  the  Goldene  Kette.  the  manner  in  which  he 
tackled  and  shod  the  vicious  horse  always  amused  me.  On  the 
outside  wall  of  the  house,  two  rings  were  firmly  fixed  ;  to  one  of 
which  the  head  of  the  patient  was  lashed  close  to  the  ground ;  the 
hind  foot,  to  be  shod,  stretched  out  to  the  utmost  extent  of  the  leg, 
was  then  secured  to  the  other  ring  about  five  feet  high,  by  a  cord 
which  passed  through  a  cloven  hitch,  fixed  to  the  root  of  the  poor 
creature's  tail. 

The  hind  foot  was  consequently  very  much  higher  than  the 
head  ;  indeed,  it  was  so  exalted,  and  pulled  so  heavily  at  the  tail, 
that  the  animal  seemed  to  be  quite  anxious  to  keep  his  other  feet 
on  terra  jirina.  With  one  hoof  in  the  heavens,  it  did  not  suit  him 
to  kick ;  with  his  nose  pointing  to  the  infernal  regions,  he  could 


THE  REVEILLE.  29 


not  conveniently  rear ;  and  as  the  devil  himself  was  apparently 
pulling  at  his  tail,  the  horse  at  last  gave  up  the  point,  and  quietly 
submitted  to  be  shod. 

Nearly  opposite  to  this  blacksmith,  sitting  under  the  projecting 
eaves  of  the  Goldcne  Kette,  there  were  to  be  seen,  every  day,  a 
row  of  women  with  immense  baskets  of  fruit,  which  they  had 
brouijht  over  the  hills,  on  their  heads.  The  cherries  were  of  the 
largest  and  finest  description,  while  the  quantity  of  their  stones 
lying  on  the  paved  street,  was  quite  sufficient  to  show  at  what  a 
cheap  rate  they  were  sold.  Plums,  apricots,  greengages,  apples, 
and  pears,  were  also  in  the  greatest  profusion ;  however,  in  pass- 
ing these  baskets,  strangers  were  strictly  ordered  to  avert  their  eyes. 
In  short,  whenever  raw  fruit  and  mineral  water  unexpectedly 
meet  each  other  in  the  human  stomach,  a  sort  of  bubble-and- 
squeak  contest  invariably  takes  place — the  one  always  endeavor- 
ing to  turn  the  other  out  of  the  house. 

The  crowd  of  idle  boys,  who  like  wasps  were  always  hovering 
round  these  fruit-selling  women,  I  often  observed  very  amusingly 
dispersed  by  the  arrival  of  some  German  grandee  in  his  huge  travel- 
ling carriage.  For  at  least  a  couple  of  minutes  before  the  thing 
appeared,  the  postilion,  as  he  descended  the  mountain,  was  heard 
attempting  to  notify  to  the  town  the  vast  importance  of  his  cargo, 
by  playing  on  his  trumpet  a  tune  which,  in  tone  and  flourish,  ex- 
actly resembled  that  which,  in  London,  announces  the  approach 
of  Punch.  There  is  something  always  particularly  harsh  and 
discordant  in  the  notes  of  a  trumpet  badly  blown  ;  but  when 
placed  to  the  lips  of  a  great  lumbering  German  postilion,  who, 
half  smothered  in  his  big  boots  and  tawdry  finery,  has,  besides 
this  crooked  instrument,  to  hold  the  reins  of  two  wheel  horses,  as 
well  as  of  two  leaders,  his  attempt,  in  such  deep  affliction,  to  be 
musical,  is  comic  in  the  extreme  ;  and,  when  the  fellow  at  last 
arrived  at  the  Goldene  Kette,  playing  a  tune  which  I  expected 
every  moment  would  make  the  head  of  Judy  pop  out  of  the  carriage, 
one  could  not  help  feeling  that,  if  the  money  which  that  trumpet 
must  have  cost  had  been  spent  in  a  pair  of  better  spurs,  it  would 
have  been  of  much  more  advantage  and  comfort  to  the  traveller ; 
but  German  posting  always  reminds   me   of  that   well-known 


30  BUBBLES. 


remark  which  the  Black  Prince  was  one  day  heard  to  utter,  as 
he  was  struggling  with  all  his  might  to  shave  a  pig. 

However,  though  1  most  willingly  join  my  fellow-countrymen 
in  ridiculing  the  tawdry  heavy  equipment  of  the  German  postilion, 
one's  nose  always  feeling  disposed  to  turn  itself  upwards  at  the 
sight  of  a  horseman  awkwardly  encumbered  w^ith  great,  unmean- 
ing,  yellow  worsted  tassels,  and  other  broad  ornaments,  which 
seem  better  adapted  to  our  four-post  bedsteads  than  to  a  rider, 
yet  I  reluctantly  acknowledged  that  I  do  verily  believe  their  horses 
are  much  more  scientifically  harnessed,  for  slow  heavy  draught, 
than  ours  are  in  England. 

Many  years  have  now  elapsed  since  I  first  observed  that,  some- 
how or  other,  the  horses  on  the  Continent  manage  to  pull  a  heavy 
carriage  up  a  steep  hill,  or  along  a  dead  level,  with  greater  ease 
to  themselves  than  our  English  horses.  Let  any  unprejudiced 
person  attentively  observe  with  what  little  apparent  fatigue  three 
small  ill-conditioned  animals  will  draw  not  only  his  own  carriage, 
but  very  often  that  huge  overgrown  vehicle,  the  French  diligence, 
or  the  German  eil-wagen,  and  I  think  he  must  admit  that,  some- 
where or  other,  there  exists  a  mystery. 

But  the  whole  equipment  is  so  unsightly — the  rope  harness  is 
so  rude — the  horses  without  blinkers  look  so  wild — there  is  so 
much  bluster  and  noise  in  the  postilion,  that,  far  from  paying  any 
compliment  to  the  turn-out,  one  is  very  much  disposed  at  once  to 
condemn  the  whole  thing,  and  not  caring  a  straw  whether  such 
horses  be  fatigued  or  not,  to  make  no  other  remark  than  that,  in 
England,  we  should  have  travelled  at  nearly  twice  the  rate,  with 
one-tenth  of  the  noise. 

But  neither  the  rate  nor  the  noise  is  the  question  which  I  wish 
to  consider,  for  our  superiority  in  the  former,  and  our  inferiority 
in  the  latter,  cannot  be  doubted.  The  thing  I  want,  if  possible, 
to  account  for,  is,  how  such  small  weak  horses  do  manage  to 
draw  one's  carriage  up  hill,  with  so  much  unaccountable  ease  to 
themselves. 

Nov/,  in  English,  French,  and  German  harness,  there  exist,  as 
it  were,  three  degrees  of  comparison,  in  the  manner  in  which  the 
head  of  the  horse  is  treated ;  for,  in  England,  it  is  elevated,  or 
borne  up,  by  v»^hat  we  call  the  bearing-rein  ',  in  France  it  is  left 


THE  REVEILLE.  31 


as  nature  placed  it  (there  being  to  common  French  harness  no 
bearing-rein) ;  while,  in  Germany,  the  head  is  tied  down  to  the 
lower  extremity  of  the  collar,  or  else  the  collar  is  so  made  that 
the  animal  is  by  it  deprived  of  the  power  of  raising  his  head. 

Now,  it  is  lindeniable  that  the  English  extreme  and  the  German 
extreme  cannot  both  be  right ;  and  passing  over  for  a  moment  the 
French  method,  which  is,  in  fact,  the  state  of  nature,  let  us  for  a 
moment  consider  which  is  best,  to  bear  a  horse's  head  up,  as  in 
England,  or  to  pull  it  downwards,  as  in  Germany.  In  my  hum- 
ble opinion,  both  are  wrong :  still  there  is  some  science  in  the 
German  error ;  whereas  in  our  treatment  of  the  poor  animal,  we 
go  directly  against  all  mechanical  calculation. 

In  a  state  of  nature,  the  wild  horse  (as  everybody  knows)  has 
two  distinct  gaits  or  attitudes.  If  man,  or  any  still  wilder  beast, 
come  suddenly  upon  him,  up  goes  his  head ;  and  as  he  first  stalks 
and  then  trots  gently  away,  with  ears  erect,  snorting  with  his 
nose,  and  proudly  snuffing  up  the  air,  as  if  exulting  in  his  free- 
dom ;  as  each  fore-leg  darts  before  the  other,  one  sees  before  one 
a  picture  of  doubt,  astonishment,  and  hesitation, — all  of  which 
feelings  seem  to  rein  him,  like  a  troop-horse,  on  his  haunches ; 
but  attempt  to  pursue  him,  and  the  moment  he  defies  you — the 
moment,  determining  to  escape,  he  shakes  his  head,  and  lays  him- 
self to  his  work,  how  completely  does  he  alter  his  attitude ! — for 
then  down  goes  his  head,  and  from  his  ears  to  the  tip  of  his  tail, 
there  is  in  his  vertebrse  an  undulating  action  which  seems  to  pro- 
pel him,  which  works  him  along,  and  which,  it  is  evident,  you 
could  not  deprive  him  of,  without  materially  diminishing  his 
speed. 

Now,  in  harness,  the  horse  has  naturally  the  same  two  gaits 
or  attitudes  ;  and  it  is  quite  true  that  he  can  start  away  with  a 
carriage,  either  in  the  one  or  the  other  ;  but  the  means  by  which 
he  succeeds  in  this  effort,  the  physical  powers  which,  in  each 
case,  he  calls  into  action,  are  essentially  different :  for  in  the  one 
attitude  he  works  by  his  muscles,  and  in  the  other  by  his  own 
dead,  or  rather  living,  weight.  In  order  to  grind  corn,  if  any 
man  were  to  erect  a  steam-engine  over  a  fme,  strong,  running 
stream,  we  should  all  say  to  him,  "Why  do  you  not  allow  your 
wheel  to  be  turned  by  cold  water  instead  of  by  hot  ?     Why  do 


32  BUBBLES. 


you  not  avail  yourself  of  the  weight  of  the  water,  instead  of  ex- 
pending your  capital  in  converting  it  into  the  power  of  steam  ? 
In  short,  why  do  you  not  use  the  simple  resource  which  nature 
has  presented  ready  made  to  your  hand  ?"  In  the  same  way,  the 
Germans  might  say  to  us,  "  We  acknowledge  that  a  horse  can 
drag  a  carriage  by  the  power  of  his  muscles,  but  why  do  you  not 
allow  them  to  drag  it  by  his  weight .?" 

In  France,  and  particularly  in  Germany,  horses  do  draw  by 
their  weight ;  and  it  is  to  encourage  them  to  raise  up  their  backs, 
and  lean  downwards  with  their  heads,  that  the  German  collars 
are  made  in  the  way  I  have  described ;  that  with  a  certain  degree 
of  rude  science,  the  horse's  nose  is  tied  to  the  bottom  of  his  collar, 
and  that  the  postilion  at  starting,  speaking  gently  to  him,  allows 
him  to  get  himself  into  a  proper  attitude  for  his  draught. 

The  horse  thus  treated,  leans  against  the  resistance  which  he 
meets  with,  and  his  weight  being  infinitely  greater  than  his 
draught  (I  mean  the  balance  being  in  his  favor),  the  carriage 
follows  him  without  much  more  strain  or  effort  on  his  part,  than 
if  he  were  idly  leaning  his  chest  against  his  manger.  It  is  true 
the  flesh  of  his  shoulder  may  become  sore  from  severe  pressure, 
but  his  sinews  and  muscles  are  comparatively  at  rest. 

Now,  as  a  contrast  to  this  picture  of  the  German  horse,  let  any 
one  observe  a  pair  of  English  post-horses  dragging  a  heavy 
weight  up  a  hill,  and  he  will  at  once  see  that  the  poor  creatures 
are  working  by  their  muscles,  and  that  it  is  by  sinews  and  main 
strength  the  resistance  is  overcome  ;  but  how  can  it  be  other- 
wise ?  for  their  heads  are  considerably  higher  than  nature  in- 
tended them  to  be  even  in  w-alking,  in  a  state  of  liberty,  carrying 
nothing  but  themselves.  The  balance  of  their  bodies  is,  there- 
fore, absolutely  turned  against,  instead  of  leaning  in  favor  of,  their 
draught,  and  thus  cruelly  deprived  of  the  mechanical  advantage 
of  weight  which  everywhere  else  in  the  universe  is  duly  appre- 
ciated, the  noble  spirit  of  our  high-fed  horses  induces  them  to 
strain  and  drag  the  carriage  forwards  by  their  muscles  ;  and,  if 
the  reader  will  but  pass  his  hands  down  the  back  sinews  of  any 
of  our  stage-coach  or  post-chaise  horses,  he  will  soon  feel  (though 
not  so  keenly  as  they  do)  what  is  the  fatal  consequence.  It  is 
true  that,  in  ascending  a  very  steep  hill,  an  English  postilion  will 


THE  REVEILLE.  33 

occasionally  unhook  the  bearing-reins  of  his  horses  ;  but  the  poor 
jaded  creatures,  trained  for  years  to  Avork  in  a  false  attitude,  can- 
not, in  one  moment,  get  themselves  into  the  scientific  position 
which  the  German  horses  are  habitually  encouraged  to  adopt ; 
besides  this,  we  are  so  sharp  with  our  horses — we  keep  them  so 
constantly  on  the  qui  vive,  or,  as  we  term  it,  in  hand — that  we  are 
always  driving  them  from  the  use  of  their  weight  to  the  applica- 
tion of  their  sinews. 

That  the  figure  and  attitude  of  a  horse,  working  by  his  sinews, 
are  infinitely  prouder  than  when  he  is  working  by  his  weight 
(there  may  exist,  however,  false  pride  among  horses  as  well  as 
among  men),  I  most  readily  admit,  and,  therefore,  for  carriages 
of  luxury,  when  the  weight  bears  little  proportion  to  the  powers 
of  the  two  noble  animals,  I  acknowledge  that  the  sinews  are  more 
than  sufficient  for  the  slight  labor  required ;  but  to  bear  up  the 
head  of  a  poor  horse  at  plough,  or  at  any  slow,  heavy  work,  is,  I 
humbly  submit,  a  barbarous  error,  which  ought  not  to  be  per- 
sisted in. 

I  may  be  quite  wrong  in  the  way  in  which  I  have  just  endea- 
vored to  account  for  the  fact  that  horses  on  the  Continent  draw 
heavy  weights  with  apparently  greater  ease  to  themselves  than 
our  horses,  and  I  almost  hope  that  I  am  wrong ;  for  laughing,  as 
we  all  do  at  the  German  and  French  harness  ;  sneering,  as  we 
do,  at  their  ropes,  and  wondering  out  loud,  as  we  always  do,  why 
they  do  not  copy  us,  it  would  not  be  a  little  provoking  were  we, 
in  spite  of  our  fine  harness,  to  find  out,  that  for  slow,  heavy 
draught,  it  is  better  to  tie  a  horse's  nose  donmwards,  like  the 
German,  than  upwards,  like  the  English,  and  that  the  French 
way  of  leaving  them  at  liberty  is  better  than  both. 
4 


34  BUBBLES. 


THE  BATH. 


The  eager  step  with  which  I  always  walked  towards  the  strong 
steel  hath  is  almost  indescribable.  Health  is  such  an  inestimable 
blessing  ;  it  colors  so  highly  the  little  picture  of  life  ;  it  sweetens 
so  exquisitely  the  small  cup  of  our  existence  ;  it  is  so  like  sun- 
shine, in  the  absence  of  which  the  world,  with  all  its  beauties, 
would  be,  as  it  once  was,  "  without  form  and  void,"  that  I  can 
conceive  nothing  which  a  man  ought  more  eagerly  to  do  than  get 
between  the  stones  of  that  mill  v/hich  is  to  grind  him  young  again, 
particularly  when,  as  in  my  case,  the  operation  was  to  be  attended 
with  no  pain.  When,  therefore,  I  had  once  left  my  Hof  to  walk 
to  the  bath,  I  felt  as  if  no  power  on  earth  could  arrest  my 
progress. 

The  oblong  slated  building,  which  contains  the  famous  waters 
of  Langen-Schwalbach,  is  plain  and  unassuming  in  its  elevation, 
and  very  sensibly  adapted  to  its  purpose.  The  outside  walls  are 
plastered,  and  colored  a  very  light  red.  There  are  five-and- 
twenty  windows  in  front  with  an  arcade  or  covered  walk  be- 
neath them,  supported  by  an  equal  number  of  pilasters,  con- 
nected together  by  Saxon  arches.  On  entering  the  main  door, 
which  is  in  the  centre,  the  great  staircase  is  immediately  in  front ; 
and  close  to  it,  on  the  left,  there  sits  a  man,  from  whom  the  per- 
son about  to  bathe  purchases  his  ticket,  for  v/hich  he  pays  forty- 
eight  kreuzers,  about  sixteen  pence. 

The  Pauline  spring  is  conducted  to  the  baths  on  the  upper 
story  ;  the  Wein  brunnen  supplies  those  below  on  the  left  of  the 
staircase  ;  the  strong  Stahl,  or  steel  brunnen,  those  on  the  right ; 
all  these  baths  opening  into  passages,  which,  in  both  stories,  ex- 
tend the  whole  length  of  the  building.     At  the  commencement  of 


THE  BATH.  35 


each  hour,  there  was  always  a  great  bustle  between  the  people 
about  to  be  washed  and  those  who  had  just  undergone  the  opera- 
tion.  A  man  and  woman  attend  above  and  below,  and,  quite 
regardless  of  their  sex,  every  person  was  trying  to  prevail  upon 
either  of  these  attendants  to  let  the  old  water  out  of  the  bath,  and 
to  turn  the  hot  and  cold  cocks  which  were  to  replenish  it.  Rest- 
lessness  and  anxiety  were  depicted  in  every  countenance  ;  how- 
ever, in  a  few  minutes,  a  calm  having  ensued,  the  water  was 
heard  rushing  into  fifteen  or  sixteen  baths  on  each  floor.  Soon 
again  the  poor  pair  were  badgered  and  tormented  by  various 
voices,  from  trebles  down  to  contrabasso,  all  calling  them  to  stop 
the  cocks.  With  a  thermometer  in  one  hand,  a  great  wooden 
shovel  in  the  other,  and  a  face  as  wet  as  if  it  had  just  emerged 
from  the  water,  each  servant  hurried  from  one  bath  to  another, 
adjusting  them  all  to  about  25^  of  Reaumur.  Door  after  door 
was  then  heard  to  shut,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  passage  became 
once  again  silent.  A  sort  of  wicker  basket,  containing  a  pan  of 
burning  embers,  was  afterwards  given  to  any  person  who,  for  the 
sake  of  enjoying  warm  towels,  was  willing  to  breathe  poisonous 
carbonic  acid  gas. 

As  soon  as  the  patient  was  ready  to  enter  his  bath,  the  first 
feeling  which  crossed  his  naked  mind,  as  he  stood  shivering  on 
the  brink,  was  a  disinclination  to  dip  even  his  foot  into  a  mixture 
which  looked  about  as  thick  as  a  horse-pond,  and  about  the  color 
of  mullagitawny  soap.  However,  having  come  as  far  as  Langen- 
Schwalbach,  there  was  nothing  to  say,  but  "  en  avant  ;"  and  so, 
descending  the  steps,  I  got  into  stuff"  so  deeply  colored  with  the 
red  oxide  of  iron,  that  the  body,  when  a  couple  of  inches  below 
the  surface,  was  invisible.  The  temperature  of  the  water  felt 
neither  hot  nor  cold  ;  but  I  was  no  sooner  immersed  in  it  than  1 
felt  it  was  evidently  of  a  strengthening,  bracing  nature,  and  I 
could  almost  have  fancied  myself  lying  with  a  set  of  hides  in  a 
tan-pit.  The  half-hour  wliich  every  day  I  was  sentenced  to  spend 
in  this  red  decoction  was  by  far  the  longest  in  the  twenty-four 
hours  ;  and  I  was  always  very  glad  when  my  chronometer,  which 
I  regularly  hung  on  a  nail  bcibre  my  eyes,  pointed  permission  to 
me  to  extricate  myself  from  the  mess.  While  the  body  was 
floating,  hardly  knowing  whether  to  sink  or  swim,  I  found  it  was 


BUBBLES. 


very  difficult  for  the  mind  to  enjoy  any  sort  of  recreation,  or  to 
reflect  for  two  minutes  on  any  one  subject ;  and  as,  lialf  shiver- 
ing, I  lay  watching  the  minute-hand  of  my  dial,  it  appeared  the 
slowest  traveller  in  existence. 

These  baths  are  said  to  be  very  apt  to  produce  head-ache, 
sleepiness,  and  other  slightly  apoplectic  symptoms ;  but  surely 
such  effects  must  proceed  from  the  silly  habit  of  not  immersing 
the  head.  The  frame  of  man  has  beneficently  been  made  capa- 
ble of  existing  under  the  line,  or  near  either  of  the  poles  of  the 
earth.  We  know  it  can  even  live  in  an  oven  in  which  meat  is 
baking  ;  but  surely,  if  it  were  possible  to  send  one-half  of  the 
body  to  Iceland,  while  the  other  was  reclining  on  the  banks  of 
Fernando  Po,  the  trial  would  be  exceedingly  severe ;  inasmuch 
as  nature,  never  having  contemplated  such  a  vagary,  has  not 
thought  it  necessaiy  to  provide  against  it.  In  a  less  degree,  the 
same  argument  applies  to  bathing,  particularly  in  mineral  waters  ; 
for  even  the  common  pressure  of  water  on  the  portion  of  the  body 
Avhich  is  immersed  in  it,  tends  mechanically  to  push  or  force  the 
blood  towards  that  part  (the  head)  enjoying  a  rarer  medium  ;  but 
when  it  is  taken  into  calculation  that  the  mineral  mixture  of 
Schwalbach  acts  on  the  body  not  only  mechanically,  by  pressure, 
but  medicinally,  being  a  very  strong  astringent,  there  needs  no 
wizard  to  account  for  the  unpleasant  sensations  so  often  com- 
plained of. 

For  the  above  reason,  I  resolved  that  my  head  should  fare  alike 
with  the  rest  of  my  system ;  in  short,  that  it  deserved  to  be 
strengthened  as  much  as  my  limbs.  It  was  equally  old — had 
accompanied  them  in  all  their  little  troubles ;  and,  nioreover, 
often  and  often,  when  they  had  sunk  down  to  rest,  had  it  been 
forced  to  contemplate  and  provide  for  the  dangers  and  vicissitudes 
of  the  next  day.  I  therefore  applied  no  half  remedy — submitted 
to  no  partial  operation — but  resolved  that  if  the  waters  of  Langen- 
Schwalbach  were  to  make  me  invulnerable,  the  box  which  held 
my  brains  should  humbly,  but  equally,  partake  of  the  blessing. 

The  way  in  which  I  bathed,  with  the  reasons  which  induced 
me  to  do  so,  were  mentioned  to  Dr.  Fcnner.  He  made  no  objec- 
tion, but  in  silence  shrugged  up  liis  shoulders.  However,  the  fact 
is,  in  this  instance  as  well  as  in  many  others,  he  is  obliged  to  pre- 


THK  BATH.  37 


scribe  no  more  than  human  nature  is  willing  to  comply  with. 
And  as  Germans  are  not  much  in  the  habit  of  washing  their 
heads, — and  even  if  they  were,  as  tliey  would  certainly  refuse  to 
dip  their  sculls  into  a  mixture  that  stains  the  hair  a  deep  red 
color,  upon  which  common  soap  has  not  the  slightest  detergent 
effect, — the  doctor  probably  feels  that  he  would  only  lose  his  influ- 
ence were  he  publicly  to  undergo  the  defeat  of  being  driven  from 
a  system  which  all  his  patients  would  agree  to  abominate  ;  in- 
deed, one  has  only  to  look  at  the  ladies'  flannel  dresses  which 
hang  in  the  yard  to  dry,  to  read  the  truth  of  the  above  assertion. 

These  garments  having  been  several  times  immersed  in  the 
bath,  are  stained  as  deep  a  red  as  if  they  had  been  rubbed  with 
ochre  or  brickdust ;  yet  the  upper  part  of  the  flannel  is  quite  as 
white,  and  indeed,  by  comparison,  appears  infinitely  whiter  than 
ever  ;  in  short,  without  asking  to  see  the  owners,  it  is  quite  evi- 
dent that,  at  Schwalbach,  young  ladies,  and  even  old  ones,  cannot 
make  up  their  minds  to  stain  any  part  of  their  mysterious  fabric 
which  towers  above  their  evening  gov/ns  ;  and,  though  the  rest  of 
their  lovely  persons  are  as  red  as  the  limbs  of  the  American  In- 
dian, yet  their  faces  and  cheeks  bloom  like  the  roses  of  York  and 
Lancaster ;  but  laying  all  flannel  arguments  aside,  the  effect  of 
these  waters  on  the  skin  is  so  singular,  that  one  has  only  to  wit- 
ness it  to  understand  that  it  would  be  useless  for  the  poor  village 
doctor  to  prescribe  to  ladies  more  than  a  pie-bald  application  of  the 
remedy. 

Although,  of  course,  in  coming  out  of  the  bath,  the  patient  rubs 
himself  dry,  and  apparently  perfectly  clean,  yet  the  rust,  by  ex- 
ercise, comes  out  so  profusely,  that  not  only  is  the  linen  of  those 
people  v/ho  bathe  stained,  but  even  their  sheets  are  similarly  dis- 
colored ;  the  dandy's  neckcloth  becomes  red  ;  and  when  the  head 
has  been  immersed,  the  pillow  in  the  morning  looks  as  if  a  rusty 
thirteen-inch  shell  had  been  reposing  on  it. 

To  the  servant  who  has  cleaned  the  bath,  filled  it,  and  supplied 
it  with  towels,  it  is  customary  to  give  each  day  six  kreuzers, 
amounting  to  twopence  ;  and  as  another  example  of  the  cheap- 
ness of  German  luxuries,  I  may  observe,  that  if  a  person  chooses, 
instead  of  walking,  to  be  carried  in  a  sedan-chair,  and  brought 


38  BUBBLES. 


back  to  his  Hof,  the  price  fixed  for  the  two  journeys  is  three- 
pence. 

Having  now  taken  my  bath,  the  next  part  of  my  daily  sentence 
was,  '•  to  return  to  the  place  from  whence  I  came,  and  there  "  to 
drink  two  more  glasses  of  water  from  the  Pauline.  The  weather 
having  been  unusually  hot,  in  walking  to  the  bath,  I  was  gene- 
rally very  much  overpowered  by  the  heat  of  the  sun  ;  but  (m 
leaving  the  mixture  to  walk  to  the  Pauline,  I  always  felt  as  if  his 
rays  were  not  as  strong  as  myself;  I  really  fancied  that  they 
glanced  from  my  frame  as  from  a  polished  cuirass  ;  and,  far  from 
suffering,  I  enjoyed  the  walk,  always  remarking  that  the  cold 
evaporation  proceeding  from  wet  hair  formed  an  additional  rea;soa 
for  preventing  the  blood  from  rushing  upwards.  The  glass  of 
cold  sparkling  water  which,  under  the  mid-day  sun,  I  received 
after  quitting  the  bath,  from  the  healthy  looking  old  goddess  of 
the  Pauline,  was  delicious  beyond  the  powers  of  description.  It 
was  infinitely  more  refreshing  than  iced  soda  water,  and  the  idea 
that  it  was  doing  good  instead  of  harm — ^that  it  was  medicine,  not 
luxury,  added  to  it  a  flavor  which  the  mind,  as  well  as  the  body, 
seemed  to  enjoy. 

What  with  the  iron  in  my  skin,  the  rust  in  my  hair,  and  the 
warmth  which  this  strengthening  mixture  imparted  to  my  waist- 
coat, I  always  felt  an  unconquerable  inclination  to  face  the  hill ; 
and,  selecting  a  different  path  from  the  one  I  had  taken  in  the 
morning,  I  seldom  stopped  until  I  had  reached  the  tip-top  of  one 
of  the  many  eminences  which  overhang  the  promenade  and  its 
beau  monde. 

The  climate  of  this  high  table-land  was  always  invigorating ; 
and  although  the  sun  was  the  same  planet  which  was  scorching 
the  saunterers  in  the  valley  beneath,  yet  its  rays  did  not  take  the 
same  hold  upon  the  rare,  subtle  mountain  air. 

At  this  hour  the  peasants  had  descended  into  the  town  to  dine. 
The  fields  were,  consequently,  deserted  ;  yet  it  was  pleasing  to 
see  where  they  had  been  toiling,  and  how  much  of  the  corn  they 
had  cut  since  yesterday.  I  derived  pleasure  from  looking  at  the 
large  heap  of  potatoes  they  had  been  extracting,  and  from  observ- 
ing that  they  had  already  begun  to  plough  the  stubble  which  only 
two  days  ago  had  been  standing  corn.     Though  neither  man,  wo- 


THE  BATH.  39 


man,  nor  child  were  to  be  seen,  it  was,  nevertheless,  quite  evident 
that  they  could  only  just  have  vanished ;  and  though  I  had  no 
fellow-creature  to  converse  with,  yet  I  enjoyed  an  old-fashioned 
pleasure  in  tracing  on  the  ground  marks  where  at  least  human 
beings  had  been. 

Quite  by  myself  I  was  loitering  on  these  heights,  when  I  heard 
the  troop  of  Langen-Schwalbach  cows  coming  through  the  great 
wood  on  my  left ;  and  wanting,  at  the  moment,  something  to  do, 
diving  into  the  forest  I  soon  succeeded  in  joining  the  gang.  They 
were  driven  by  a  man  and  a  woman,  who  received  for  every  cow 
under  their  care  forty-two  kreuzers,  or  fourteen  pence,  for  the  six 
summer  months:  for  this  humble  remuneration  they  drove  the 
cows  of  Schwalbach  every  morning  into  the  great  woods,  to  enjoy 
air  and  a  very  little  food  ;  three  times  a-day  they  conducted  them 
home  to  be  milked,  and  in  the  evening  as  often  re-ascended  to  the 
forest.  At  the  hours  of  assembling,  the  man  blew  a  long,  crooked, 
tin  horn,  which  the  cows  and  their  proprietors  equally  well  under- 
stood. Everybody  must  be  aware,  that  it  is  not  a  very  easy  job 
to  keep  a  set  of  cows  together  in  a  forest,  as  the  young  ones,  espe- 
cially, are  always  endeavoring  to  go  astray  ;  however,  the  two 
guides  had  each  a  curious  sort  of  instrument  by  which  they 
managed  to  keep  them  in  excellent  subjection.  It  consisted  of  a 
heavy  stick  about  two  feet  long,  with  six  iron  rings,  so  placed 
that  they  could  be  shaken  up  and  down ;  and,  certainly,  if  it  were 
to  be  exhibited  at  Smithfield,  no  being  there,  human  or  inhuman, 
would  ever  guess  that  it  was  invented  for  driving  cows  ;  and 
were  he  even  to  be  told  so,  he  would  not  conceive  how  it  could 
possibly  be  used  for  that  purpose.  Yet,  in  Nassau,  it  is  the 
regular  engine  for  propelling  cattle  of  every  description. 

In  driving  the  cows  through  the  wood,  I  observed  that  the  man  and 
woman  each  kept  on  one  flank,  the  herd  leisurely  proceeding  before 
them  ;  but  if  any  of  the  cows  attempted  to  stray — if  any  of  them 
presumed  to  lie  down — or  if  any  of  them  appeared  to  be  in  too 
earnest  conversation  with  a  great  lumbering  creature  of  her  own 
species,  distinguished  by  a  ring  through  his  nose,  and  a  bright 
iron  chain  round  his  neck,  the  man,  and  especially  the  woman, 
gave  two  or  three  shakes  with  the  rings,  and  if  that  lecture  was 
not  sufficient,  the  stick,  rings  and  all,  flew  through  the  air,  inflict- 


40  BUBBLES. 


ing  a  blow  which  really  appeared  sufficient  to  break  a  rib,  and 
certainly  much  more  than  sufficient  to  dislodge  an  eye. 

It  was  easy  to  calculate  the  force  of  this  uncouth  weapon,  by 
the  fear  the  poor  animals  entertained  of  it ;  and  I  observed,  that 
no  sooner  did  the  woman  shake  it  at  an  erring,  disobedient  cow, 
than  the  creature  at  once  gave  up  the  point,  and  hurried  for- 
wards. 

In  the  stillness  of  the  forest,  nothing  could  sound  wilder  than 
the  sudden  rattling  of  these  rings,  and  almost  could  one  fancy  that 
beings  in  chains  were  running  between  the  trees.  A  less  severe 
discipline  would,  probably,  not  be  sufficient.  However,  I  must 
record  that  the  severity  was  exercised  with  a  considerable  pro- 
portion of  discretion  ;  for  I  particularly  remarked  that,  when  cows 
were  in  a  certain  interesting  situation,  their  rude  drivers,  with 
unerring  aim,  always  pelted  them  on  the  hocks. 

Leaving  the  cows,  and  descending  the  mountain's  side,  I  stroll- 
ed through  the  little  mountain  hamlet  of  Wambach.  In  the  mid- 
dle of  this  simple  retreat,  there  stood,  overtopping  most  of  the 
other  dwellings,  a  tall  slender  hut,  on  the  thatched  roof  of  which 
was  a  wooden  pent-house,  containing  a  bell,  which,  three  times 
a-day,  tolled  for  reveille,  noon-tide  meal,  and  curfew.  As  the  hu- 
man tongue  speaks  by  the  impulse  of  the  mind,  so  did  this  humble 
clapper  move  in  obedience  to  the  dictates  of  a  village  watch,  which, 
when  out  of  order,  the  parish  was  bound  to  repair. 

From  the  upper  windows  of  the  principal  house,  I  saw  suspend- 
ed festoons  or  strings  of  apples  cut  in  slices,  and  exposed  to  the 
sun  to  dry.  A  lad,  smoking  his  pipe,  was  driving  his  mother's 
cow  to  fetch  grass  from  the  valley.  Women,  with  pails  in  their 
hands,  were  proceeding  towards  the  spring  for  water ;  others 
were  returning  to  their  homes  heavily  laden  v/ith  fagots,  while 
several  of  their  idle  children  were  loitering  about  before  their 
doors. 

But,  as  I  had  still  another  dose  of  water  to  drink  from  the  Pau- 
line, I  hastened  to  the  brunnen,  and  having  emptied  my  glass 
(which,  like  the  outside  of  a  bottle  of  iced  water,  was  instanta- 
neously covered  by  condensation  with  dew),  I  found  that  it  was 
time  to  prepare  myself  (as  I  beg  leave  to  prepare  my  reader)  for 
that  very  lengthy  ceremony — a  German  dinner. 


THE  DINNER.  41 


THE  DINNER. 


During  the  fashionable  season  at  Langen-Schwalbach,  the  dinner 
hour  at  all  the  Saals  is  one  o'clock.  From  about  noon  scarcely  a 
stranger  is  to  be  seen ;  but  a  few  minutes  before  the  bell  strikes 
one,  the  town  exhibits  a  picture  curious  enough,  when  it  is  con- 
trasted with  the  simple  costume  of  the  villagers,  and  the  wild- 
looking  country  which  surrounds  them.  From  all  the  hofs  and 
lodging  houses,  a  set  of  demure,  quiet-looking,  well-dressed  peo- 
ple are  suddenly  disgorged,  who,  at  a  sort  of  funeral  pace,  slowly 
advance  towards  the  Allee  Saal,  the  Goldene  Kette,  the  Kaiser 
Saal,  and  one  or  two  other  houses,  ou  Von  dine.  The  ladies  are 
not  dressed  in  bonnets,  but  in  caps,  most  of  which  are  quiet,  the 
rest  being  of  those  indescribable  shapes  which  are  to  be  seen  in 
London  or  Paris.  Whether  the  stiff-stand-up  frippery  of  bright- 
red  ribands  was  meant  to  represent  a  house  on  fire,  or  purgatory 
itsolf — whether  those  immense  white  ornaments  were  intended  for 
reefs  of  coral  or  not — it  is  out  of  my  department  even  to  guess — 
ladies'  caps  being  riddles  only  to  be  explained  by  themselves. 

With  no  one  to  affront  them — with  no  fine  powdered  footman  to 
attend  them — with  nothing  but  their  appetites  to  direct  them — and 
with  their  own  quiet  conduct  to  protect  them — old  ladies,  young 
ladies,  elderly  gentlemen,  and  young  ones,  were  seen  slowly  and 
silently  picking  their  way  over  the  rough  pavement.  There  was 
no  greediness  in  their  looks  ;  nor,  as  they  proceeded,  did  they  lick 
their  lips,  or  show  any  other  signs  of  possessing  any  appetite  at 
all ;  they  looked  much  more  as  if  they  were  coming  from  a  meal, 
than  going  to  one  :  in  short,  they  seemed  to  be  thinking  of  any- 
tliing  in  the  dictionary  but  the  word  dinner.  And  when  one  con- 
trasted or  weighed  the  quietness  of  their  demeanor  against  the 


BUBBLES. 


enormous  quantity  of  provisions  they  were  placidly  about  to  con- 
sume, one  could  not  help  admitting  that  these  Germans  had  cer- 
tainly more  self-possession,  and  could  better  muzzle  their  feelings, 
than  many  of  the  best-behaved  people  in  the  universe. 

Seated  at  the  table  of  the  Allee  Saal,  I  counted  a  hundred  and 
eighty  people  at  dinner  in  one  room.  To  say,  in  a  single  word, 
whether  the  fare  was  good  or  bad,  would  be  quite  impossible,  it 
being  so  completely  different  to  anything  ever  met  with  in 
England. 

To  my  simple  taste,  the  cooking  is  most  horrid ;  still  there 
were  now  and  then  some  dishes,  particularly  sweet  ones,  which  I 
thought  excellent.  With  respect  to  the  made-dishes,  of  which 
there  was  a  great  variety,  I  beg  to  offer  to  the  reader  a  formula  I 
invented,  which  will  teach  him  (should  he  ever  come  to  Germany) 
what  to  expect.  The  simple  rule  is  this  : — Let  him  taste  the  dish, 
and  if  it  be  not  sour,  he  may  be  quite  certain  that  it  is  greasy  ; — 
again,  if  it  be  not  greasy,  let  him  not  eat  thereof,  for  then  it  is 
sure  to  be  sour.  With  regard  to  the  order  of  the  dishes,  that,  too, 
is  unlike  anything  which  Mrs.  Glasse  ever  thought  of.  After 
soup,  which  all  over  the  world  is  the  alpha  of  the  gourmand's 
alphabet,  the  barren  meat  from  which  the  said  soup  has  been  ex- 
tracted is  produced.  Of  course  it  is  dry,  tasteless,  withered-look- 
ing stuff,  which  a  Grosvenor-square  cat  would  not  touch  with  its 
whisker  ;  but  this  dish  is  always  attended  by  a  couple  of  satellites 
— the  one  a  quantity  of  cucumbers  dressed  in  vinegar,  the  other 
a  black  greasy  sauce :  and  if  you  dare  to  accept  a  piece  of  this 
flaccid  beef,  you  are  instantly  thrown  between  Scylla  and  Cha- 
rybdis ;  for  so  sure  as  you  decline  the  indigestible  cucumber, 
souse  comes  into  your  plate  a  deluge  of  the  greasy  sauce  !  After 
the  company  have  eaten  heavily  of  messes  which  it  would  be  im- 
possible  to  describe,  in  comes  some  nice  salmon — then  fowls — then 
puddings — then  meat  again — then  stewed  fruit ;  and  after  the 
English  stranger  has  fallen  back  in  his  chair  quite  beaten,  a  leg 
of  mutton  majestically  makes  its  appearance  ! 

I  dined  just  two  days  at  the  Saals,  and  then  bade  adieu  to  them 
for  ever.  Nothing  which  this  world  affords  could  induce  me  to 
feed  in  this  gross  manner.  The  pig  who  lives  in  his  sty  would 
have  some  excuse  ;  but  it  is  really  quitfe  shocking  to  see  any  other 


THE  DINNER.  43 


animal  overpowering  himself  at  mid-day  with  such  a  mixture  and 
superabundance  of  food.  Yet  only  think  what  a  compliment  all 
this  is  to  the  mineral  waters  of  Langen-Schwalbach  ;  for  if  })eo- 
ple  who  come  here,  and  live  in  this  way  morning,  noon,  and  night, 
can,  as  I  really  believe  they  do,  return  to  their  homes  in  hotter 
health  than  they  departed,  how  much  more  benefit  ought  any  one 
to  derive,  who,  maintaining  a  life  of  simplicity  and  temperance, 
would  resolve  to  give  them  a  fair  trial  ?  In  short,  if  the  cold 
iron  waters  of  the  Pauline  can  be  of  real  rerviceto  a  stomach  full 
of  vinegar  and  grease,  how  much  more  effectually  ought  they  to 
tinker  up  and  repair  the  inside  of  him  who  has  sense  enough  to 
sue  them  in  forma  pauperis  f 

Dr.  Fenner  was  told  that  I  had  given  up  dining  in  public,  as  I 
preferred  a  single  dish  at  home  ;  and  he  was  then  asked,  with  a 
scrutinizing  look,  whether  eating  so  much  was  not  surely  very 
bad  for  those  who  were  drinking  the  waters  ?  The  poor  doctor 
quietly  shrugged  up  his  shoulders, — silently  looking  at  his  shoes, 
— and  what  else  could  he  have  done  ?  Himself  an  inhabitant  of 
Langen-Schwalbach,  of  course  he  was  obliged  to  feel  the  pulse  of 
his  own  fellow-citizens,  as  well  as  that  of  the  stranger  ;  and  into 
what  a  fever  would  he  have  thrown  all  the  innkeepers — what  a 
convulsion  would  he  have  occasioned  in  the  village  itself — were 
he  to  have  presumed  to  prescribe  temperance  to  those  wealthy 
visitors  by  whose  gross  intemperance  the  community  hoped  to 
prosper !  He  might  as  well  have  gone  into  the  fields  to  burn  the 
crops,  as  thus  wickedly  to  blight  the  golden  harvest  which 
Langen-Schwalbach  had  calculated  on  reaping  during  the  short 
visit  of  its  consumptive  guests. 

Our  dinner  is  now  over ;  but  I  must  not  rise  from  the  table  of 
the  Allee  Saal,  until  I  have  made  an  '  amende  honorable^  to  those 
against  whose  vile  cooking  I  have  been  railing,  for  it  is  only 
common  justice  to  German  society  to  oifer  an  humble  testimony 
that  nothing  can  be  more  creditable  to  any  nation :  one  can 
scarcely  imagine  a  more  pleasing  picture  of  civilized  life,  than 
the  mode  in  which  society  is  conducted  at  these  watering-places. 

The  company  which  comes  to  the  brunnens  for  health,  and 
which  daily  assembles  at  dinner,  is  of  a  most  heterogeneous  de- 
scription, being  composed  of  Princes,  Dukes,  Barons,  Counts,  &c., 


44  BUBBLES. 


down  to  the  petty  shopkeeper,  and  even  the  Jew  of  Frankfort, 
Mainz,  and  other  neighboring  towns ;  in  short,  all  the  most  jar- 
ring elements  of  society,  at  the  same  moment,  enter  the  same  room, 
to  partake  together  the  same  one  shilling  and  eight-penny  dinner. 

Even  to  a  stranger  like  myself,  it  was  easy  to  perceive  that  the 
company,  as  they  seated  themselves  round  the  table,  had  herded 
together  in  parties  and  coteries,  neither  acquainted  with  each 
other,  nor  with  much  disposition  to  be  acquainted — still,  all  those 
invaluable  forms  of  society  which  connect  the  guests  of  any  pri- 
vate individual  were  most  strictly  observed  ;  and,  from  the  natural 
good  sense  and  breeding  in  the  country,  this  happy  combination 
was  apparently  effected  without  any  effort.  No  one  seemed  to 
be  under  any  restraint,  yet  there  was  no  freezing  formality  at  one 
end  of  the  table,  nor  rude  boisterous  mirth  at  the  other.  With  as 
honest  good  appetites  as  could  belong  to  any  set  of  people  under 
the  sun,  I  particularly  remarked  that  there  was  no  scrambling  for 
favorite  dishes  ; — to  be  sure,  here  and  there  an  eye  was  seen 
twinkling  a  little  brighter  than  usual,  as  it  watched  the  progress 
of  any  approaching  dish  which  appeared  to  be  unusually  sour  or 
greasy,  but  there  was  no  greediness,  no  impatience,  and  nothing 
which  seemed  for  a  single  moment  to  interrupt  the  general  har- 
mony of  the  scene  ;  and,  though  I  scarcely  heard  a  syllable  of 
the  buzz  of  conversation  which  surrounded  me ;  although  every 
moment  I  felt  less  and  less  disposed  to  attempt  to  eat  what  for 
some  time  had  gradually  been  coagulating  in  my  plate  ;  yet, 
leaning  back  in  my  chair,  I  certainly  did  derive  very  great  plea- 
sure, and  I  hope  a  very  rational  enjoyment,  in  looking  upon  so 
pleasing  a  picture  of  civilized  life. 

In  England  we  are  too  apt  to  designate,  by  the  general  term 
"  society,"  the  particular  class,  clan,  or  clique  in  which  we  our- 
selves may  happen  to  move,  and  if  that  little  speck  be  sufficiently 
polished,  people  are  generally  quite  satisfied  with  what  they  term 
"the  present  state  of  society  ;"  yet  there  exists  a  very  important 
difference  between  this  ideal  civilisation  of  a  part  or  parts  of  a 
community,  and  the  actual  civilisation  of  the  community  as  a 
whole  ;  and  surely  no  country  can  justly  claim  for  itself  that  title, 
until  not  only  can  its  various  members  move  separately  among 
each  other,  but  until,  if  necessary,  they  can  all   meet  and  act 


THE  DINNER.  45 


together.  Now,  if  this  assertion  be  admitted,  I  fear  it  cannot  be 
denied  that  we  islanders  are  very  far  from  being  as  highly  polished 
as  our  continental  neighbors,  and  that  we  but  too  often  mistake 
odd  provincial  habits  of  our  own  invention,  for  the  broad,  useful 
current  manners  of  the  world. 

In  England,  each  class  of  society,  like  our  different  bands  of 
trades,  is  governed  by  its  own  particular  rules.  There  is  a  class 
of  society  which  has  very  gravely,  and  for  aught  I  care  very  pro- 
perly, settled  that  certain  food  is  to  be  eaten  with  a  fork — that 
others  are  to  be  launched  into  the  mouth  with  a  spoon ;  and  that 
to  act  against  these  rules  (or  whims),  shows  "  that  the  man  has 
not  lived  in  the  world. ^^  At  the  other  end  of  society  there  are, 
one  has  heard,  also  rules  of  honor,  prescribing  the  sum  to  be  put 
into  a  tin  money-box,  so  often  as  the  pipe  shall  be  filled  with 
tobacco,  with  various  other  laws  of  the  same  dark  caste  or  com- 
plexion. These  conventions,  however,  having  been  firmly  esta- 
blished among  each  of  the  many  classes  into  which  our  country 
people  are  subdivided,  a  very  considerable  degree  of  order  is 
everywhere  maintained  ;  and,  therefore,  let  a  foreigner  go  into 
any  sort  of  society  in  England,  and  he  will  find  it  is  apparently 
living  in  happy  obedience  to  its  ov/n  laws ;  but  if  any  chance  or 
convulsion  brings  these  various  classes  of  society  each  laden  with 
its  own  laws,  into  general  contact,  a  sort  of  Babel  confusion 
instantly  takes  place,  each  class  loudly  calling  its  neighbor  to 
order  in  a  language  it  cannot  comprehend.  Like  the  followers 
of  different  religions,  the  one  has  been  taught  a  creed  which  has 
not  even,  been  heard  of  by  the  other  ;  there  is  no  sound  bond  of 
union — no  reasonable  understanding  between  the  parties  :  in 
short,  they  resemble  a  set  of  regiments,  each  of  which  having  been 
drilled  according  to  the  caprice  or  fancy  of  its  colonel,  appears  in 
very  high  order  on  its  own  parade,  yet,  when  all  are  brought 
together,  form  an  unorganized  and  undisciplined  army :  and  in 
support  of  this  theory,  is  it  not  undeniably  true,  that  it  is  practi- 
cally impossible  for  all  ranks  of  society  to  associate  together  in 
England  with  the  same  case  and  inoffensive  freedom  which  cha- 
racterize similar  meetings  on  the  continent  ?  And  yet  a  German 
duke  or  a  German  baron  is  as  proud  of  his  rank,  and  rank  is  as 
much  respected  in  his  country  as  it  is  in  our  country. 


46  BUBBLES. 


There  must,  therefore,  in  England  exist  somewhere  or  other  a 
radical  fault.  The  upper  classes  will  of  course  lay  the  blame 
on  the  lowest — the  lowest  will  abuse  the  highest — but  may  not 
the  error  lie  between  the  two  ?  Does  it  not  rather  rest  upon 
both  1  and  is  it  not  caused  by  the  laws  which  regulate  our  small 
island  society  being  odd,  unmeaning,  imaginary,  and  often  fic- 
titious, instead  of  being  stamped  with  those  large  intelligible  cha- 
racters which  make  them  at  once  legible  to  all  the  inhabitants 
of  the  globe  ? 

For  instance,  on  the  continent,  every  child,  almost  before  he 
learns  his  alphabet,  before  he  is  able  even  to  crack  a  whip,  is 
taught  what  is  termed  in  Europe  civility,  a  trifling  example  of 
which  I  Avitnessed  this  very  morning.  At  nearly  a  league  from 
Langen-Schwalbach,  I  walked  up  to  a  little  boy  who  was  flying  a 
kite  on  the  top  of  a  hill,  in  the  middle  of  a  field  of  oat  stubble. 
I  said  not  a  word  to  the  child — scarcely  looked  at  him — but  as 
soon  as  I  got  close  to  him,  the  little  village  clod,  who  had  never 
breathed  anything  thicker  than  his  own  mountain  air,  actually 
almost  lost  string,  kite  and  all,  in  an  effort  quite  irresistible 
which  he  made  to  bow  to  me,  and  take  off  his  hat.  Again,  in 
the  middle  of  the  forest,  I  saw  the  other  day  three  laboring 
boys  laughing  together,  each  of  their  mouths  being,  if  possible, 
wider  open  than  the  others ;  however,  as  they  separated,  off 
went  their  caps,  and  they  really  took  leave  of  each  other  in  the 
very  same  sort  of  manner  with  which  I  yesterday  saw  the  Land- 
grave of  Hesse  Homburg  return  a  bow  to  a  common  postilion. 

It  is  this  general,  well-founded,  and  acknowledged  system 
which  binds  together  all  classes  of  society.  It  is  this  useful, 
sensible  system  which  enables  the  master  of  the  Allee  Saal,  as 
he  walks  about  the  room  during  dinner-time,  occasionally  to 
converse  with  the  various  descriptions  of  guests  who  have  ho- 
nored his  table  with  their  presence ;  for,  however  people  in  Eng- 
land would  be  shocked  at  such  an  idea,  on  the  continent,  so  long 
as  a  person  speaks  and  behaves  correctly,  he  need  not  fear  to  give 
any  one  offence. 

Nov/  in  England,  as  we  all  know,  we  have  all  sorts  of  man- 
ners, and  a  man  actually  scarcely  dares  to  say  which  is  the  true 
idol  to  be  worshipped.     We  have  very  noble  aristocratic  man- 


THE  DINNER.  47 


ners ;  we  have  the  short,  stumpy  manners  of  the  old-fashioned 
English  country  gentleman  ;  we  have  sick,  dandified  manners  ; 
black-stock  military  manners  ;  ''  your  free  and  easy  manners  " 
(which,  by-the-bye,  on  the  continent,  would  be  translated  "  no 
manners  at  all).''  We  have  the  ledger,  calf-skin  manners  of  a 
steady  man  of  business  ;  the  last  imported  monkey  or  ultra-Pari- 
sian manners  ;  manners  not  only  of  a  school-boy,  but  of  the  par- 
ticular school  to  which  he  belongs  ;  and  lastly,  we  have  the  parti- 
colored manners  of  the  mobility,  who,  until  they  were  taught  the 
contrary,  very  falsely  flattered  themselves  that  on  the  throne  they 
would  find  the  "  ship,  a-hoy  !"  manners  of  a  "  true  British  sailor." 

Now,  with  respect  to  these  motley  manners,  these  "  black  spi- 
rits and  white,  blue  spirits  and  grey,"  which  are  about  as  differ- 
ent from  each  other  as  the  manners  of  the  various  beasts  collected 
by  Noah  in  his  ark,  it  may  at  once  be  observed,  that  (however  we 
ourselves  may  admire  them)  there  are  very  few  of  them  indeed 
which  are  suited  to  the  continent ;  and,  consequently,  though  Rus- 
sians, Prussians,  Austrians,  French  and  Italians,  to  a  certain  de- 
gree, can  anywhere  assimilS,te  together,  yet,  somehow  or  other,  our 
manners — (never  mind  whether  better  or  worse) — are  different. 
Which,  therefore,  I  am  seriously  disposed  to  ask  of  myself,  are 
the  most  likely  to  be  right  ?  the  manners  of  "  the  right  little,  tight 
little  island,"  or  those  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  vast  continent  of 
Europe  ? 

The  reader  will,  I  fear,  think  that  my  dinner  reflections  have 
partaken  of  the  acidity  of  the  German  mess  which  lay  so  long 
before  me  untouched  in  my  plate  ;  and  at  my  observations  I  fully 
expect  he  will  shake  his  head,  as  I  did  when,  afterwards,  expect- 
ing to  get  something  sweet,  I  found  my  mouth  nearly  filled  with 
a  substance  very  nearly  related  to  sourcrout.  Should  the  old 
man's  remarks  be  unpalatable,  they  are  not  more  so  than  was  his 
meal ;  and  he  begs  to  apologize  for  them  by  saying,  that  had  he, 
as  he  much  wished,  been  able  to  eat,  he  would  not,  against  his 
will,  have  been  driven  to  reflect.  0 


48  BUBBLES. 


THE  PROMENADE 


A  FEW  minutes  after  the  dessert  had  been  placed  on  the  table  of 
the  Allee  Saal,  one  or  two  people  from  different  chairs  rose  and 
glided  away  ;  then  up  got  as  many  more,  until,  in  about  a  quarter 
of  an  hour,  the  whole  company  had  quietly  vanished,  excepting 
here  and  there,  around  the  vast  circumference  of  the  table,  a  cou- 
ple, who,  not  having  yet  finished  their  phlegmatic,  long-winded 
argument,  sat  like  pairs  of  oxen,  with  their  heads  yoked  together. 

It  being  only  three  o'clock  in  tlie  day,  and  as  people  did  not 
begin  to  drink  the  waters  again  till  about  six,  there  was  a  long, 
heavy  interval,  v/hich  vras  spent  very  much  in  the  way  in  which 
English  cows  pass  their  time  v/hen  quite  full  of  fine  red  clover, — 
bending  their  fore  knees,  they  lie  dov/n  on  the  grass  to  ruminate. 

As  it  was  very  hot  at  this  hour,  the  ladies,  in  groups  of  two, 
three  and  four,  with  coffee  before  them  on  small  square  tables,  sat 
out  together  in  the  open  air,  under  the  shade  of  the  trees.  Most 
of  them  commenced  knitting  ;  but,  at  this  plethoric  hour,  I  could 
not  help  observing  that  they  made  several  hundred  times  as  many 
stitches  as  remarks.  A  few  of  the  young  men,  with  cigars  in 
their  mouths,  meandered,  in  dandified  silence,  through  these  par- 
ties of  ladies ;  but  almost  all  tb.c  German  lords  of  the  creation 
had  hidden  themselves  in  holes  and  corners,  to  enjov  smoking 
their  pipes ;  and  surely  nothing  can  be  more  filthy — nothing  can 
be  a  greater  waste  of  time  and  intellect  than  this  horrid  habit. 
If  tobacco  were  even  a  fragrant  perfume,  instead  of  stinking  as 
it  does,  still  the  habit  which  makes  it  necessary  to  a  human  being 
to  carry  a  large  bag  in  one  of  his  coat-pockets,  and  an  unwieldy 
crooked  pipe  in  the  other,  would  bo  unmanly  ;  inasmuch  as,  be- 
sides creating  an  artificial  want,  it  encumbers  him  v.ith  a  real 


THE  PROMENADE.  41> 

burden,  which,  both  on  horseback  and  on  foot,  impedes  his  activity 
and  his  progress  ;  but  when  it  turns  out  that  this  said  artificial 
want  is  a  nasty,  vicious  habit — when  it  is  impossible  to  be  clean 
if  you  indulge  in  it — when  it  makes  your  hair  and  clothes  smell 
most  loathsomely — when  you  absolutely  pollute  the  fresh  air  as 
you  pass  through  it ;  when,  besides  all  this,  it  corrodes  the  teeth, 
injures  the  stomach,  and  fills  with  red  inflammatory  ]Tarticles  the 
naturally  cool,  clear,  white  brain  of  man,  it  is  quite  astonishing 
that  these  Germans,  who  can  act  so  sensibly  during  so  many  hours 
of  the  day,  should  not  have  strength  of  mind  enough  to  trample 
their  tobacco-bags  under  their  feet — throwing  their  reeking,  sooty 
pipes  behind  them,  and  learn  (I  will  not  say  from  the  English,  but 
from  every  bird  and  animal  in  a  state  of  nature)  to  be  clean :  and 
certainly  w  hatever  faults  there  may  be  in  our  manners,  our  clean- 
liness is  a  virtue  which  above  every  nation  /  have  ever  visited, 
pre-eminently  distinguishes  us  in  the  world. 

During  the  time  which  was  spent  in  this  stinking  vice,  I  ob- 
served that  people  neither  interrupted  each  other,  nor  did  they 
very  much  like  to  be  interrupted ;  in  short,  it  was  a  sort  of  siesta 
with  the  eyes  open,  and  with  smoke  coming  out  of  the  mouth. 
Sometimes  gazing  out  of  the  window  of  his  Hof,  I  saw  a  German 
baron,  in  a  tawdry  dressing-gown  and  scull-cap  (with  an  immense 
ring  on  his  dirty  forefinger),  smoking,  and  pretending  to  be  think- 
ing ;  sometimes  I  winded  a  creature,  who,  in  a  similar  attitude, 
was  seated  on  the  shady  benches  near  the  Stahl  brunnen ;  but 
these  were  only  exceptions  to  the  general  rule,  for  most  of  the 
males  had  vanished,  one  knew  not  where,  to  convert  themselves 
into  automatons,  which  had  all  the  smoky  nuisance  of  the  steam- 
engine — without  its  power. 

At  about  half- past  five  or  six  o'clock,  "  the  world"  began  to 
come  to  life  again  ;  the  ladies  with  their  knitting  needles  lying  in 
their  laps,  gradually  began  to  talk  to  each  other,  some  even  at- 
tempting to  laugh.  Group  rising  after  group,  left  the  small  white 
painted  tables  and  empty  coffee-cups  round  which  they  had  beeii 
sitting,  and  in  a  short  time,  the  walks  to  the  three  brunnens  in 
general,  and  to  the  Pauline  in  particular,  were  once  again 
ihronged  with  people ;   and  as  slowly,   and   very  slowly,   they 


50  BUBBLES. 


walked  backwards  and  forwards,  one  again  saw  German  society 
in  its  most  amiable  and  delightful  point  of  view. 

A  few  of  the  ladies,  particularly  those  who  had  young  children, 
were  occasionally  accompanied  through  the  day  by  a  nice  steady, 
healthy-looking  young  woman,  whose  dress  (being  without  cap  or 
bonnet,  with  a  plain  cloth  shawl  thrown  over  a  dark  cotton  gown) 
at  once  denoted  that  she  was  a  servant.  The  distinction  in  her 
dress  was  marked  in  the  extreme,  yet  it  %\as  pleasing  to  see  that 
there  was  no  necessity  to  carry  it  farther,  the  v/oman  appearing 
to  be  so  well  behaved,  that  there  was  little  fear  of  her  giving  of- 
fence. Whenever  her  mistress  stopped  to  talk  to  any  of  her 
friends,  this  attendant  became  a  harmless  listener  to  the  conver- 
sation, and  when  a  couple  of  families,  seated  on  a  bank,  were 
amusing  each  other  with  jokes  and  anecdotes,  one  saw  by  the 
countenances  of  these  quiet-looking  young  people,  who  were  also 
permitted  to  sit  down,  that  they  were  enjoying  the  story  quite  as 
much  as  the  rest. 

In  England,  people  would  of  course  be  shocked  at  the  idea  of 
thus  associating  with,  or  rather  sitting  in  society  with  their  ser- 
vants, and  on  account  of  the  manners  of  our  servants  it  certainly 
would  not  be  agreeable  ;  however,  if  we  had  but  one  code,  instead 
of  having  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  (for  I  quite  forgot  to 
insert  in  my  long  list  the  manners  of  a  fashionable  lady's  maid), 
this  would  not  be  the  case ;  for  then  English  servants,  like  Ger- 
man servants,  would  learn  to  sit  in  the  presence  of  their  superiors 
without  giving  any  offence  at  all.  But  besides  observing  how 
harmlessly  these  German  menials  conducted  themselves,  I  must 
own  I  could  not  help  reflecting  what  an  advantage  it  was,  not 
only  to  them,  but  to  the  humble  hovel  to  which,  when  they  mar- 
ried, they  would  probably  return — in  short,  to  society,  that  they 
should  have  had  an  opportunity  of  witnessing  the  conduct,  and  of 
listening  to  the  conversation  of  quiet,  sensible,  moral  people,  who 
had  had  the  advantages  of  a  good  education. 

Of  course,  if  .these  young  people  were  placed  on  high  wages — 
tricked  out  with  all  the  cast-off  finery  of  their  mistresses — and  if 
laden  with  these  elements  of  corruption,  and  hopelessly  banished 
from  the  presence  of  their  superiors,  they  were  day  after  day,  and 
night  after  night,  to  be  stewed  up  together  with  stewards,  butlers, 


THE  PROMENADE.  51 


&c.,  in  the  devil's  frying-pan — I  mean,  that  den  of  narrow, 
minded  iniquity,  a  house-keeper's  room — of  course,  these  strong, 
bony,  useful  servants  would  very  soon  dress  as  finely,  and  give 
themselves  all  those  airs  for  which  an  English  lady's  maid  is  so 
celebrated  even  in  her  own  country ;  but  in  Germany,  good  sense 
and  poverty  have  as  yet  firmly  and  rigidly  prescribed,  not  only 
the  dress  which  is  to  distinguish  servants  from  their  masters,  but 
that,  with  every  rational  indulgence,  with  every  liberal  opportu- 
nity of  raising  themselves  in  their  own  estimation,  they  shall  be 
fed  and  treated  in  a  manner  and  according  to  a  scale,  which, 
though  superior,  still  bears  a  due  relation  to  the  humble  station 
and  habits  in  which  they  were  born  and  bred.  Of  course,  ser- 
vants trained  in  this  manner  cost  very  little,  yet  if  they  are  not 
natually  ill-disposed,  there  is  everything  to  encourage  them  in 
good  behavior,  with  little  to  lead  them  astray.  They  are  cer- 
tainly not,  like  our  servants,  clothed  in  satin,  fine  linen,  and 
superfine  cloth  ;  nor,  like  Dives  himself,  do  they  fare  sumptuously 
every  day  ;  but  I  believe  they  are  all  the  happier,  and  infinitely 
more  at  their  ease,  for  being  kept  to  their  natural  station  in  life, 
instead  of  being  permitted  to  ape  an  appearance  for  which  their 
education  has  not  fitted  them,  or  repeat  fine  slip-slop  sentiments 
which  they  do  not  understand. 

However,  it  is  not  our  servants  who  deserve  to  be  blamed  ;  they 
are  quite  right  to  receive  high  wages,  wear  veils,  kid  gloves, 
superfine  cloth,  give  themselves  airs,  mock  the  manners  of  their 
lords  and  ladies,  and  to  farcify  below  stairs  the  "  comedy  of 
errors"  which  they  catch  an  occasional  glimpse  of  above  ;  in 
short,  to  do  as  little,  consume  as  much,  and  be  as  expensive  and 
troublesome  as  possible.  No  liberal  person  can  blame  them,  but 
it  is,  I  fear,  on  our  heads  that  all  their  follies  must  rest ;  we  have 
no  one  but  ourselves  to  blame,  and  until  a  few  of  the  principal 
families  in  England,  for  the  credit  and  welfare  of  the  country, 
agree  together  to  lower  the  style  and  habits  of  their  servants,  and 
by  a  long  pull,  a  strong  pull,  and  a  pull  altogether,  to  break  the 
horrid  system  which  at  present  prevails, — the  distinction  between 
the  honest  ploughman,  who  whistles  along  the  fallow,  and  his  white- 
faced,  powdered-headed,  silver-laced,  scarlet-breeched,  golden- 
gartered  brother  in  London,  must  be  as  strikingly  ridiculous  as 


BUBBLES. 


ever  :  the  one  must  remain  an  honor,  the  other  a  discredit,  to  the 
wealth  of  a  country  which  (we  all  say  unjustly)  has  been  called 
by  its  enemy  a  "nation  of  shopkeepers." 

If  once  the  system  were  to  be  blown  up,  thousands  of  honest, 
well-meaning  servants  would,  I  believe,  rejoice  ;  and  v/hile  the 
aristocracy  and  wealthier  classes  would  in  fact  be  served  at  least 
as  well  as  ever,  the  middle  ranks,  and  especially  all  people  of 
small  incomes,  would  be  relieved  beyond  description  from  an 
unnatural  and  unnecessary  burden  which  but  too  often  embitters 
all  their  little  domestic  arrangements.  There  can  be  no  points 
of  contrast  between  Germany  and  England  more  remarkable 
than  that,  in  the  one  country,  people  of  all  incomes  are  supported 
and  relieved  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  their  servants,  while 
in  the  other  they  are  tormented  and  oppressed.  Again,  that  in 
the  one  country,  servants  humbly  dressed,  and  humbly  fed,  live 
in  a  sort  of  exalted  and  honorable  intercourse  with  their  masters ; 
while,  in  the  other,  servants  highly  powdered  and  grossly  fed, 
are  treated  de  haut  en  has,  in  a  manner  which  is  not  to  be  seen 
on  the  Continent. 

The  enormous  wealth  of  England  is  the  commercial  wonder 
of  the  world,  yet  every  reflecting  man  who  looks  at  our  debt,  at 
the  immense  fortunes  of  individuals,  and  at  the  levelling,  unprin- 
cipled, radical  spirit  of  the  age,  must  see  that  there  exists  among 
us  elements  which  may  possibly  some  day  or  other  furiously  ap- 
pear in  collision.  The  great  country  may  yet  live  to  see  distress ; 
and  in  the  storm,  our  commercial  integrity,  like  an  overweighted 
vessel,  may,  for  aught  we  know,  founder  and  go  down,  stern  fore- 
most. I  therefore  most  earnestly  say,  should  this  calamity  ever 
befall  us,  let  not  foreigners  be  entitled,  in  preaching  over  our 
graves,  to  pronounce,  "  that  we  were  a  people  who  did  not  know 
how  to  enjoy  prosperity — that  our  money,  like  our  blood,  flew  to 
our  heads — that  our  riches  corrupted  our  minds — and  that  it  was 
absolutely  our  enormous  wealth  which  sunk  us." 

Without  saying  one  other  word,  I  will  only  again  ask,  is  it  or 
is  it  not  the  interest  of  our  upper  classes  to  countenance  this  island 
system  ?    . 

Should  it  be  argued,  that  they  ought  not  to  be  blamed  because 
vulgar,  narrow-minded  people  are  foolish  enough  to  ruin  them- 


THE  PROMENADE.  53 


selves  in  a  vain  attempt  to  copy  them,  I  reply,  that  they  must 
take  human  nature,  good  and  bad,  not  as  it  ought  to  be,  but  as  it 
is ;  and  that,  after  all,  it  is  no  bad  compliment  to  the  high  station 
ihey  hold,  that  the  middle  and  lower  classes  will  absolutely  ruin 
themselves  in  overfeeding  and  overdressing  their  servants — in 
short,  in  following  any  bad  example  which  such  high  authority 
may  irrationally  decree  to  be  fashionable.  But  to  return  to  the 
Promenade. 

From  everlastingly  vibrating  backwards  and  forwards  on  this 
walk,  one  gets  so  well  acquainted  with  the  faces  ofone's  comrades, 
that  it  is  easy  to  note  the  arrival  of  any  stranger,  who,  however, 
after  having  made  two  or  three  turns,  is  consideied  as  received 
into,  and  belonging  to,  the  ambulatory  community. 

In  constantly  passing  the  people  on  the  promenade,  I  occa- 
sionally heard  a  party  talking  French.  During  the  military 
dominion  of  Napoleon,  that  language,  of  course,  flooded  the  whole 
of  the  high  duchy  of  Nassau  as  completely  as  almost  the  rest  of 
Europe :  a  strong  ebb  of  reaction,  however,  has  of  late  years 
taken  place  ;  and  in  Prussia,  for  instance,  the  common  people  do 
not  now  like  even  to  hear  the  language  pronounced.  On  the 
other  hand,  thanks  to  Sir  Walter  Scott,  Lord  Byron,  and  other 
worn-out  literary  laborers,  now  resting  in  their  graves,  our  Ian- 
guage  is  beginning  to  make  an  honest  progress  ;  and  even  in 
France  it  is  becoming  fashionable  to  display  in  society  a  literary 
flower  or  two  culled  from  that  North  border,  the  Jardin  Anglais. 

As  a  passing  stranger,  the  word  I  heard  pronounced  on  the 
promenade  the  oftenest  was  "  Ja  !  Ja  !"  and  it  really  seemed  to 
me  that  German  ^^■omen  to  all  questions  invariably  answer  in  the 
affirmative,  for  "  Ja  !  Ja  !"  was  repeated  by  them,  I  know,  from 
morning  till  night,  and,  for  aught  I  know,  from  niglit  till  morning. 

As  almost  every  stranger  at  Langen-Schwalbach,  as  well  as 
several  of  its  inhabitants,  were  at  this  hour  on  the  Promenade, 
the  three  brunncns  were  often  surrounded  by  more  open  mouths 
than  the  women  in  attendance  could  supply.  The  old  mother  at 
the  Pauline  was  therefore  always  assisted  in  the  evening  by  her 
daughter,  who,  without  being  at  all  handsome,  was,  like  her  parent, 
a  picture  of  robust,  ruddy  health  ;  and  to  poor  withered  people, 
who  came  to  them  to  drink,  it  was  very  satisfactory  indeed  to  see 


54  BUBBLES. 


the  practical  effect  which  swallowing  and  baling  out  this  water 
from  morning  till  night  had  had  on  these  two  females  ;  and  as 
they  stood  in  the  burning  sun  bending  downwards  into  the  brunnen, 
to  fill  the  glasses  which  in  all  directions  converged  towards  them, 
it  was  curious  to  observe  the  different  description  of  people  who 
from  every  point  of  Europe  (except  England)  had  surrounded  one 
little  well.  As  I  earnestly  looked  at  their  various  figures  and 
faces,  I  could  not  help  feeling  that  it  was  quite  impossible  for  the 
goddess  Pauline  to  cure  them  all :  for  I  saw  a  tall,  gaunt,  brown, 
hard-featured,  lantern-jawed  officer,  a  demi  solde,  the  sort  of  fellow 
that  the  French  call  "  un  gros  maigre,''^  drinking  by  the  side  of  a 
red-faced,  stuffy,  stumpy,  stunted  little  man,  who  seemed  made 
on  purpose  to  demonstrate  that  the  human  figure,  like  the  tele- 
scope, could  be  made  portable.  "  What  in  the  world  (I 
mumbled  to  myself)  can  be  the  matter  with  that  very  nice,  fresh, 
comfortable,  healthy-looking  widow  ?  Or  what  does  that  huge, 
unwieldy  man  in  the  broad-brimmed  hat  require  from  the 
Pauline  ? — Surely  he  is  already  about  as  full  as  he  can  hold  ? 
And  that  poor  sick  girl,  who  has  just  borrowed  the  glass  from  her 
withered,  wrinkled,  skinny,  little  aunt  ?  Can  the  same  prescrip- 
tion be  good  for  them  both  ?  A  couple  of  nicely-dressed  children 
are  extending  their  little  glasses  to  drink  water  with  milk  :  and  see  ! 
that  gang  of  countrymen,  who  have  stopped  their  carts  on  the 
upper  road,  are  racing  and  chasing  each  other  down  the  bank  to 
crowd  round  the  brunnen !  Is  it  not  curious  to  observe  that  in 
such  a  state  of  perspiration  they  can  drink  such  deadly  cold  water 
with  impunity  ?  But  this  really  is  the  case  ;  and  whether  it  is 
burning  hot,  or  raining  a  deluge,  this  simple  medicine  is  always 
agreeable,  and  no  sooner  is  it  swallowed,  than,  like  the  fire  in  the 
grate,  it  begins  to  warm  its  new  mansion." 

Such  was  the  scene,  and  such  was  the  effect,  daily  witnessed 
round  one  of  nature's  simplest  and  most  beneficent  remedies.  All 
the  drinkers  seemed  to  be  satisfied  with  the  water,  which,  I  believe, 
has  only  one  virtue,  that  of  strengthening  the  stomach ;  yet  it  is 
this  solitary  quality  which  has  made  it  cure  almost  every  possible 
disorder  of  body  and  mind  :  for  though  people  with  an  ankle 
restirlg  on  a  knee  sometimes  mysteriously  pointed  to  their  toes^ 
and  sometimes  as  solemnly  laid  their  hands  upon  their  foreheads, 


THE  PROMENADE. 


yet  I  rather  believe  that  abnost  every  malady  to  which  the  human 
frame  is  subject,  is  either  by  highways  or  byways  connected  with 
the  stomach  ;  and  I  must  own  I  never  see  a  fashionable  physician 
mysteriously  counting  the  pulse  of  a  plethoric  patient,  or,  with  a 
silver  spoon  on  his  tongue,  importantly  looking  down  his  red, 
inflamed  gullet  (so  properly  termed  by  Johnson  "  the  meat-pipe  "), 
but  I  feel  a  desire  to  exclaim,  "  Why  not  tell  the  poor  gentleman 
at  once — Sir  !  you've  eaten  too  much,  you've  drunk  too  much,  and 
you've  not  taken  exercise  enough  /"  That  these  are  the  main  causes 
of  almost  every  one's  illness,  there  can  be  no  greater  proof,  than 
that  those  savage  nations  which  live  actively  and  temperately  have 
only  one  great  disorder — death.  The  human  frame  was  not 
created  imperfect — it  is  we  ourselves  who  have  made  it  so ;  there 
exists  no  donkey  in  creation  so  overladen  as  our  stomachs,  and  it  is 
because  they  groan  under  the  weight  so  cruelly  imposed  upon 
them,  that  we  see  people  driving  them  before  them  in  herds  to 
drink  at  one  little  brunnen. 

A  list  of  the  strangers  visiting  Bad-Ems,  Langen-Schwalbach, 
and  Schlangenbad,  is  published  twice  a  week,  and  circulated  on 
all  the  promenades.  From  it,  I  find  that  there  are  1200  visitors 
at  Schwalbach  alone — an  immense  number  for  so  small  a  place. 
Still,  the  habits  of  the  people  are  so  quiet,  that  it  does  not  at  all 
bear  the  appearance  of  an  English  watering-place,  and  certainly 
I  never  before  existed  in  a  society  where  people  are  left  so  com- 
pletely  to  go  their  own  ways.  Whether  I  stroll  up  and  down  the 
Promenade  or  about  the  town,  whether  I  mount  the  hill  or  ramble 
into  distant  villages,  no  one  seems  to  notice  me  any  more  than  if 
I  had  been  born  there  ;  and  yet  out  of  the  1200  strangers,  I 
happened  to  be  the  only  specimen  to  be  seen  of  Old  England. 
No  one  knows  that  I  have  given  up  feasting  in  public,  for  it  is  not 
the  custom  to  dine  always  at  the  same  house,  but  when  one  o'clock 
comes,  people  go  to  the  Alice  Saal,  Goldene  Kette,  &c.,  just  as 
they  feel  disposed  at  the  moment. 

There  are  no  horses  to  be  hired  at  Schwalbach,  but  a  profusion 
of  donkeys  and  mules.  It  is  a  pretty,  gaudy  sight  to  witness  a 
group  of  these  animals  carrying  ladies  in  their  parti-colorcd 
bonnets,  &c.,  descending  one  of  the  hills.  The  saddles  are 
covered  with  coarse  scarlet,  or  bright  blue  cloth,  and  the  donkey 


56  BUBBLES. 


always  wears  a  fine  red  brow-band ;  nevertheless,  under  these 
brilliant  colors,  to  the  eye  of  a  cognoscent,  it  is  too  easy  to  perceive 
that  the  poor  creatures  are  sick  in  their  hearts  of  their  finery,  and 
that  they  are  tired,  almost  unto  death,  of  carrying  one  large 
curious  lady  after  another  to  see  Hohenstein,  Adolfseck,  and  other 
lions,  which  without  metaphor  are  actually  consuming  the  car- 
casses of  these  unhappy  asses.  The  other  day  I  myself  hired 
one,  but  not  being  allowed  to  have  the  animal  alone,  I  was  obliged 
to  submit  to  be  followed  by  the  owner,  who,  by  order  of  the  Duke, 
was  dressed  in  a  blue  smock-frock,  girded  by  a  buff  belt. 

I  found  I  could  not  produce  the  slightest  effect  on  the  animal's 
pace,  but  that  if  the  man  behind  me  only  shook  his  stick,  down 
went  the  creature's  long  ears,  and  on  we  trotted.  By  this  arrange- 
ment, I  was  hurried  by  objects  which  I  wished  to  look  at,  and 
obliged  to  crawl  before  what  I  was  exceedingly  anxious  to  leave 
behind ;  and  altogether  it  was  travelling  so  very  much  like  a  bag 
of  sand,  that  ever  since  I  have  much  preferred  propelling  myself. 


THE  SCIiWEIN-GENERAL  57 


THE   SCIiWEIN-GENERAL. 


Every  morning,  at  half-past  five  o'clock,  I  hear,  as  I  am  dressing, 
the  sudden  blast  of  an  immense  long  wooden  horn,  from  which 
always  proceed  the  same  four  notes.  I  have  got  quite  accustom- 
ed to  this  wild  reveille,  and  the  vibration  has  scarcely  subsided, 
it  is  still  ringing  among  the  distant  hills,  when,  leisurely  proceed- 
ing from  almost  every  door  in  the  street,  behold  a  pig !  Some, 
from  their  jaded,  careworn,  dragged  appearance,  are  evidently- 
leaving  behind  them  a  numerous  litter ;  others  are  great,  tall,  mo- 
nastic, melancholy-looking  creatures,  which  seem  to  have  no  other 
object  left  in  this  wretched  world  than  to  become  bacon  ;  while 
others  are  thin,  tiny,  light-hearted,  brisk,  petulant  piglings,  with 
the  world  and  all  its  loves  and  sorrows  before  them.  Of  their 
own  accord  these  creatures  proceed  down  the  street  to  join  the 
herdsman,  who  occasionally  continues  to  repeat  the  sorrowful 
blast  from  his  horn. 

Gregarious,  or  naturally  fond  of  society,  with  one  curl  in  their 
tails,  and  with  their  noses  almost  touching  the  ground,  the  pigs 
trot  on,  grunting  to  themselves  and  to  their  comrades,  halting  only 
whenever  they  come  to  anything  they  can  manage  to  swallow. 

I  have  observed  that  the  old  ones  pass  all  the  carcasses,  which, 
trailing  to  the  ground,  are  hanging  before  the  butchers'  shops,  as 
if  they  were  on  a  sort  of  parole  dlwnnenr  not  to  touch  them  ;  the 
middle-aged  ones  wistfully  eye  this  meat,  yet  jog  on  also,  wliile 
the  piglings,  who  (so  like  mankind)  have  more  appetite  than  judg- 
ment, can  rarely  resist  taking  a  nibble ;  yet,  no  sooner  does  the 
dead  calf  begin  again  to  move,  than  from  the  window  immediately 
above  out  pops  the  head  of  a  butcher,  who,  drinking  his  coffee, 


58  BUBBLES. 


whip  in  hand,  inflicts  a  prompt  punishment,  sounding  quite  equal 
to  the  otTence. 

As  I  have  stated,  the  pigs,  generally  speaking,  proceed  of  their 
own  accord ;  but  shortly  after  they  have  passed,  there  comes 
down  our  street  a  little  bareheaded,  barefooted,  stunted  dab  of  a 
child,  about  eleven  years  old, — a  Flibbertigibbet  sort  of  a  creature, 
which,  in  a  drawing,  one  would  express  by  a  couple  of  blots,  the 
small  one  for  her  head,  and  the  other  for  her  body  ;  while,  stream- 
ing from  the  latter,  there  would  be  a  long  line  ending  in  a  flour- 
ish, to  express  the  immense  whip  which  the  child  carries  in  its 
hand.  This  little  goblin  page,  the  whipper-in,  attendant,  or  aide- 
de-camp  of  the  old  pig-driver,  facetiously  called,  at  Langen- 
Schwalbach,  the  "  Schwein-general,"  is  a  being  no  one  looks  at, 
and  who  looks  at  nobody.  Whether  the  Hofs  of  Schwalbach  are 
full  of  strangers  or  empty — whether  the  promenades  are  occupied 
bv  princes  or  peasants — whether  the  weather  be  good  or  bad,  hot 
or  rainy,  she  apparently  never  stops  to  consider;  upon  these 
insignificant  subjects  it  is  evident  she  never  for  a  moment  has  re- 
flected. But  such  a  pair  of  eyes  for  a  pig  have  perhaps  seldom 
beamed  from  human  sockets  !  The  little  intelligent  urchin  knows 
every  house  from  which  a  pig  ought  to  have  proceeded  ;  she  can 
tell  by  the  door  being  open  or  shut,  and  even  by  footmarks, 
whether  the  creature  has  joined  the  herd,  or  whether,  having  over- 
slept itself,  it  is  still  snoring  in  its  sty — a  single  glance  determines 
whether  she  shall  pass  a  yard  or  enter  it ;  and  if  a  pig,  from  indo- 
lence or  greediness,  be  loitering  on  the  road,  the  sting  of  the  wasp 
cannot  be  sharper  or  more  spiteful  than  tlie  cut  she  gives  it.  As 
soon  as,  finishing  with  one  street,  she  joins  her  General  in  the 
main  road,  the  herd  slowly  proceed  down  the  town. 

On  meeting  them  this  morning  they  really  appeared  to  have  no 
hams  at  all ;  their  bodies  were  as  flat  as  if  they  had  been  squeez- 
ed in  a  vice  ;  and  when  they  turned  sideways,  their  long  sharp 
noses,  and  tucked-up  bellies,  gave  to  their  profile  the  appearance 
of  starved  greyhounds. 

As  I  gravely  followed  this  grunting  unearthly-looking  herd  of 
unclean  spirits,  through  that  low  part  of  Langen-Schwalbach 
which  is  solely  inhabited  by  Jews,  I  could  not  help  fancying  that 
I  observed  them  holding  their  very  breaths,  as  if  a  loathsome  pes- 


THE  SCHWEIN-GENERAL.  59 


tilence  were  passing  ;  for  though  fat  pork  be  a  wicked  luxury — a 
forbidden  pleasure  whicli  the  Jew  has  been  supposed  occasionally 
in  secret  to  indulge  in — yet  one  may  easily  imagine  that  such 
very  lean  ugly  pigs  have  not  charms  enough  to  lead  them  astray. 

Besides  the  little  girl  who  brought  up  the  rear,  the  herd  was 
preceded  by  a  boy  of  about  fourteen,  whose  duty  it  was  not  to  let 
the  foremost,  the  more  enterprising,  or,  in  other  words,  the  most 
empty  pigs,  advance  too  fast.  In  the  middle  of  the  drove,  sur- 
rounded like  a  shepherd  by  his  flock,  slowly  stalked  the  "  Schwein- 
GENERAL,"  a  wan,  spectre-looking  old  man,  worn  out,  or  nearly 
so,  by  the  arduous  and  every-day  duty  of  conducting,  against 
their  wills,  a  gang  of  exactly  the  most  obstinate  animals  in  crea- 
tion. A  single  glance  at  his  jaundiced,  ill-natured  countenance 
was  sufficient  to  satisfy  one  that  his  temper  had  been  soured  by 
the  vexatious  contrarieties  and  "  untoward  events "  it  had  met 
with.  In  his  left  hand  he  held  a  staff  to  help  himself  onwards, 
while  round  his  right  shoulder  hung  one  of  the  most  terrific  whips 
that  could  possibly  be  constructed.  At  the  end  of  a  short  handle, 
turning  upon  a  swivel,  there  was  a  lash  about  nine  feet  long, 
formed  like  the  vertebrae  of  a  snake,  each  joint  being  an  iron  ring, 
which,  decreasing  in  size,  was  closely  connected  with  its  neigh- 
bor, by  a  band  of  hard  greasy  leather.  The  pliability,  the  weight, 
and  the  force  of  this  iron  whip  rendered  it  an  argument  which  the 
obstinacy  even  of  the  pig  was  unable  to  resist ;  yet,  as  the  old 
man  proceeded  down  the  town,  he  endeavored  to  speak  kindly  to 
the  herd,  and  as  the  bulk  of  them  preceded  him,  jostling  each 
other,  grumbling  and  grunting  on  their  way,  he  occasionally  ex- 
claimed in  a  low,  hollow,  worn-out  tone  of  encouragement,  '•  Nina, 
Anina  "  (drawling  of  course  very  long  on  the  last  syllabic). 

If  any  little  savory  morsel  caused  a  contention,  stoppage,  or 
constipation  on  the  march,  the  old  fellow  slowly  unwound  his 
dreadful  whip,  and  by  merely  whirling  it  round  his  head,  like 
reading  the  Riot  Act,  Mie  generally  succeeded  in  dispersing  the 
crowd  ;  but  if  they  neglected  this  solemn  warning,  if  their 
stomachs  proved  stronger  than  their  judgment,  and  if  the  group 
of  greedy  pigs  still  continued  to  stagnate — "  Arriff  !"  the  old 
fellow  exclaimed,  and  rushing  forwards,  the  lash  whirling  round 
his  head,  he  inflicted,  with  strength  which  no  one  could  have  fan- 


60  BUBBLES. 


cied  he  possessed,  a  smack  that  seemed  absolutely  to  electrify  the 
leader.  As  lightning  shoots  across  the  heavens,  I  observed  the 
culprit  fly  forwards,  and  for  many  yards,  continued  to  sidle  towards 
the  left,  it  was  quite  evident  that  the  thorn  was  still  smarting  in 
his  side  ;  and  no  wonder,  poor  fellow !  for  the  blow  he  received 
would  almost  have  cut  a  piece  out  of  a  door. 

As  soon  as  the  herd  got  out  of  the  town  they  began  gradually 
to  ascend  the  rocky,  barren  mountain  which  appeared  towering 
above  them ;  and  then  the  labors  of  the  Schwein-general  and  his 
staff  became  greater  than  ever :  for  as  the  animals  from  their 
solid  column  began  to  extend  or  deploy  themselves  into  line,  it 
was  necessary  constantly  to  ascend  and  descend  the  slippery  hill, 
in  order  to  outflank  them.  "  Arriff  !"  vociferated  the  old  man, 
striding  after  one  of  his  rebellious  subjects  ;  "  ArrifF!"  in  a  shrill 
tone  of  voice,  was  re-echoed  by  the  lad,  as  he  ran  after  another : 
however,  in  due  time,  the  drove  reached  the  ground  which  was 
devoted  for  that  day's  exercise,  the  whole  mountain  being  thus 
taken  in  regular  succession. 

The  Schwein-general  now  halted,  and  the  pigs  being  no  longer 
called  upon  to  advance,  but  being  left  entirely  to  their  own  notions, 
I  became  exceedingly  anxious  attentively  to  observe  them. 

No  wonder,  poor  reflecting  creatures !  that  they  had  come  un- 
willingly to  such  a  spot — for  there  appeared  to  be  literally  nothing 
for  them  to  eat  but  hot  stones  and  dust :  however,  making  the  best 
of  the  bargain,  they  all  very  vigorously  set  themselves  to  work. 
Looking  up  the  hill,  they  dexterously  began  to  lift  up  with  their 
snouts  the  largest  of  the  loose  stones,  and  then  grubbing  their 
noses  into  the  cool  ground,  I  watched  their  proceedings  for  a  very 
long  time.  Their  tough  wet  snouts  seemed  to  be  sensible  of  the 
quality  of  everything  they  touched ;  and  thus  out  of  the  appar- 
ently barren  ground  they  managed  to  get  fibres  of  roots,  to  say 
nothing  of  worms,  beetles,  or  any  other  travelling  insects  they 
met  with.  As  they  slowly  advanced  working  up  the  hill,  their 
ears  most  philosophically  shading  their  eyes  from  the  hot  sun,  I 
could  not  help  feeling  how  little  we  appreciate  the  delicacy  of 
several  of  their  senses,  and  the  extreme  acuteness  of  their  instinct. 

There  exists  perhaps  in  creation  no  animal  which  has  less 
justice   and  more  injustice  done  to  him  by   man  than  the  pig. 


THE  SCHWEIN-GENERAL.  61 

Gifted  with  every  faculty  of  supplying  himself,  and  of  providing 
even  against  the  approaching  storm,  which  no  creature  is  better 
capable  of  foretelling  than  a  pig,  we  begin  by  putting  an  iron 
ring  through  the  cartilage  of  the  nose,  and  having  thus  barbarous- 
ly deprived  him  of  the  power  of  searching  for,  and  analyzing,  his 
food,  we  generally  condemn  him  for  the  rest  of  his  life  to  solitary 
confinement  in  a  sty. 

While  his  faculties  are  still  his  own,  only  observe  how,  with  a 
bark  or  snort,  he  starts  if  you  approach  him,  and  mark  what 
shrewd  intelligence  there  is  in  his  bright  twinkling  little  eye :  but 
with  pigs,  as  with  mankind,  idleness  is  the  root  of  all  evil.  The 
poor  animal  finding  that  he  has  absolutely  nothing  to  do — having 
no  enjoyment, — nothing  to  look  forvrard  to  but  the  pail  which 
feeds  him,  naturally,  most  eagerly,  or  as  we  accuse  him,  most 
greedily,  greets  its  arrival.  Having  no  natural  business  or 
diversion — nothing  to  occupy  his  brain — the  whole  powers  of  his 
system  are  directed  in  the  digestion  of  a  superabundance  of  food. 
To  encourage  this,  Nature  assists  him  with  sleep,  which  lulling 
his  better  faculties,  leads  his  stomach  to  become  the  ruling  power 
of  his  system — a  tyrant  that  can  bear  no  one's  presence  but  his 
own.  The  poor  pig,  thus  treated,  gorges  himself — sleeps — eats 
again — sleeps — awakens  in  a  fright — screams — struggles  against 
the  blue  apron — screams  fainter  and  fainter — turns  up  the  whites 
of  his  little  eyes — and dies  ! 

It  is  probably  from  abhorring  this  picture,  that  I  know  of  nothing 
which  is  more  distressing  to  me  than  to  witness  an  indolent  man 
eating  his  own  home-fed  pork. 

There  is  something  so  horribly  similar  between  the  life  of  the 
human  being  and  that  of  his  victim — their  notions  on  all  subjects 
are  so  unnaturally  contracted — there  is  such  a  melancholy  re- 
semblance between  the  strutting  residence  in  the  village,  and  the 
stalking  confinement  of  the  sty — between  the  sound  of  the  dinner- 
bell  and  the  rattling  of  the  pail — between  snoring  in  the  arm- 
chair  and  grunting  in  clean  straw — tliat,  when  I  contrast  the 
"  pig's  countenance  "  in  the  dish  with  that  of  ])is  lord  and  master, 
who,  with  outstretched  elbows,  sits  leaning  over  it,  I  own  I  always 
feel  it  is  so  hard  the  one  should  have  killed  the  other — in  short,  there 


62  BUBBLES. 


is  a  sort  of  "  Tu  quoque,  Brute  !"  moral  in  the  picture,  which  to 
my  mind  is  most  painfully  distressing. 

But  to  return  to  the  Schwein-general,  whom,  with  his  horn  and 
whip,  I  have  left  on  the  steep  side  of  a  barren  mountain. 

In  this  situation  do  the  pigs  remain  every  morning  for  four 
hours,  enjoying  little  else  than  air  and  exercise.  At  about  nine 
or  ten  o'clock,  they  begin  their  march  homewards,  and  nothing 
cUn  form  a  greater  contrast  than  their  entry  into  their  native  town 
does  to  their  exit  from  it. 

Their  eager  anxiety  to  get  to  the  dinner  trough  that  awaits 
them  is  almost  ungovernable  ;  and  they  no  sooner  reach  the  first 
houses  of  the  town,  than  a  sort  of  "  sauve  qui  peut"  motion  takes 
place  :  away  each  then  starts  towards  his  dulce  domum  ;  and  it 
is  really  curious  to  stand  still  and  watch  how  very  quickly  they 
canter  by,  greedily  grunting  and  snuffling,  as  if  they  could  smell 
with  their  stomachs,  as  well  as  their  noses,  the  savory  food  which 
is  awaiting  them. 

At  half-past  four,  the  same  four  notes  of  the  same  horn  are 
heard  again  ;  the  pigs  once  more  assemble — once  more  tumble 
over  the  hot  stones  on  the  mountain — once  more  remain  there  for 
four  hours — and  in  the  evening  once  again  return  to  their  styes. 

Such  is  the  life  of  the  pigs,  not  only  of  Langen-Schwalbach, 
but  those  of  every  village  throughout  a  great  part  of  Germany  : 
every  day  of  their  existence,  summer  and  winter,  is  spent  in  the 
way  I  have  described.  The  squad  consists  here  of  about  a  hundred 
and  fifty,  and  for  each  pig  the  poor  old  Schwein-general  receives 
forty  kreuzers  (about  IM.)  for  six  months'  drilling  of  each  recruit. 
His  income,  therefore,  is  about  £20  a  year,  out  of  which  he  has 
to  pay  the  board,  lodging  and  clothing  of  his  two  aides-de-camp ; 
and  when  one  considers  how  unremittingly  this  poor  fellow-crea- 
ture has  to  contend  with  the  gross  appetites,  sulky  tempers,  and 
pig-headed  dispositions  of  the  swinish  multitude,  surely  not  even 
the  most  niggardly  reformer  would  wish  to  curtail  his  emolu- 
ments. 


THE  LUTHERAN  CHAPEL.  63 


THE  LUTHERAN  CHAPEL. 


I  HAVE  just  come  from  the  little  Lutheran  chapel,  and  while  the 
picture  is  fresh  before  my  mind,  I  will  endeavor  to  describe  it. 

On  entering  the  church,  the  service  I  found  had  begun,  and 
the  first  thing  that  struck  me  was,  that  the  pulpit  was  empty, 
there  being  no  minister  of  any  sort  or  kind  to  be  seen  !  The 
congregation  was  chanting  a  psalm  to  very  much  the  same  sort 
of  drawling  tune  which  one  hears  in  England  ;  yet  the  difference 
in  their  performance  is  very  remarkable.  As  all  were  singing 
about  as  loud  as  they  could,  the  chorus  was  certainly  too  much 
for  the  church  :  indeed,  the  sound  had  not  only  filled  its  walls, 
but  streaming  out  of  the  doors  and  every  aperture,  it  had  rolled 
down  the  main  street,  where  I  had  met  it  long  before  I  reached 
the  church.  Yet,  though  it  was  certainly  administered  in  too 
strong  a  dose,  it  was  impossible  to  help  acknowledging  that  it  pro- 
ceeded from  a  peasantry  who  had  a  gift  or  natural  notion  of  mu- 
sic, quite  superior  to  anything  one  meets  with  in  an  English  vil- 
lage,  or  even  in  a  London  church.  The  song  was  simple,  and 
the  lungs  from  which  it  proceeded  were  too  stout ;  yet  there  was 
nothing  to  offend  the  ear ;  in  short,  there  were  no  bad  faults  to 
eradicate — no  nasal  whine — no  vulgar  tremulous  mixture  of  two 
notes — no  awkward  attempts  at  musical  finery — but  in  every  bar 
there  was  tune  and  melody,  and,  with  apparently  no  one  to  guide 
them,  these  native  musicians  proceeded  witli  their  psalm  in  per- 
fect harmony  and  concert. 

As  this  singing  lasted  nearly  twenty  minutes,  I  had  plenty  of 
time  to  look  about  me.  The  church,  which,  with  its  little  spire, 
stands  on  a  gentle  eminence  above  the  houses  of  the  main  street, 
is  a  small  oblong  building  of  four  windows  in  length  by  two  in 


64  BUBBLES. 


breadth ;  the  glass  in  those  recesses  being  composed  of  round, 
plain,  unpainted  panes,  about  the  size  of  a  common  tea-saucer. 
The  inside  of  the  building  is  white-washed  :  a  gallery  of  unpaint- 
ed wood,  supported  by  posts  very  rudely  hewn,  going  nearly  round 
three  sides  of  it.  There  were  no  pews,  but  rows  of  benches  occu- 
pied about  three-fourths  of  the  body  of  the  church  :  the  remaining 
quarter  (which  was  opposite  to  the  principal  entrance-door)  being 
elevated  three  steps  above  the  rest.  At  the  back  of  this  little 
platform,  leaning  against  the  wall,  there  was  a  pulpit  containing 
only  one  reading-desk,  and  above  it  a  sounding-board,  surmounted 
by  a  gilt  image  of  the  sun — the  only  ornament  in  the  church. 
In  front  of  the  pulpit,  between  it  and  the  congregation,  I  observed 
a  small,  high,  oblong  table,  covered  with  a  plain  white  table-cloth, 
and  on  the  right  and  left  of  the  pulpit  there  existed  an  odd-look- 
ing  pew,  latticed  so  closely  that  no  one  could  see  at  all  perfectly 
through  it. 

The  three  galleries  were  occupied  by  men  dressed  all  alike  in 
the  common  blue  cloth  Sunday  clothes  of  the  country.  The 
benches  beneath  were  filled  with  women  ;  and  as  I  glanced  an 
eye  from  one  row  to  another,  it  v/as  impossible  to  help  regretting 
the  sad  progress,  or  rather  devastation,  which  fashion  is  making 
in  the  national  costume  even  of  the  little  village  of  Langen- 
Schwalbach.  Three  benches  nearest  to  the  door  were  filled  with 
women  all  dressed  in  the  old  genuine  "  buy  a  broom"  costume  of 
this  country — their  odd  little  white  caps — their  open  stays — and 
their  fully-plaited  short  petticoats  seeming  to  have  been  cast  in  one 
model ;  in  short,  they  were  clad  in  the  native  livery  of  their  hills. 
Next  to  these  were  seated  four  rows  of  women  and  girls,  who,  nib- 
bling at  novelty,  had  ventured  to  exchange  the  caps  of  their  fe- 
male ancestors  for  plain  horn  combs  ;  over  their  stays  some  had 
put  cotton  gowns,  the  colored  patterns  of  which  seemed  to  be  vul- 
garly quarrelling  among  each  other  for  precedence.  Next  came 
a  row  of  women  in  caps,  frilled  and  bedizened. 

The  Langen-Schwalbach  ladies,  who  occupied  the  other  two 
benches,  and  who  were  seated  behind  a  row  of  boys  immediately 
before  the  white  table,  had  absolutely  ventured  to  put  on  their 
heads  bonnets  M^ith  artificial  flowers,  &c. ;  in  short,  they  had 
rigged  themselves  out  as  fine  ladies — wore  gloves — tight  shoes — 


THE  LUTHERAN  CHAPEL.  65 

blew  their  noses  with  handkerchiefs,  evidently  conceiving  them- 
selves (as  indeed  they  were)  fit  for  London,  Paris,  or  any  other 
brilliant  speck  in  the  fashionable  world. 

As  soon  as  the  singing  was  over,  a  dead  pause  ensued,  which 
lasted  for  many  seconds,  and  I  was  wondering  from  what  part  of 
the  chapel  the  next  human  voice  would  proceed,  when  very  indis- 
tinctly I  saw  something  moving  in  one  of  the  latticed  pews — 
slowly  it  glided  towards  the  stair  of  the  pulpit,  until,  mounting 
above  the  lattice-work,  the  uncertain  vision  changed  into  a  re- 
markably tall,  portly  gentleman  in  black,  who  was  now  clearly 
seen  leisurely  ascending  towards  the  pulpit,  on  the  right  of  which 
hung  a  large  black  slate,  on  which  were  written,  in  white  chalk, 
the  numbers  414  and  309. 

As  soon  as  the  clergyman  had  very  gravely  glanced  his  eyes 
round  the  whole  church,  as  if  to  recognize  his  congregation,  he 
slowly,  syllable  by  syllable,  began  an  extempore  address;  and 
the  first  words  had  scarcely  left  his  lips  when  I  could  not  help 
feeling  that  I  was  listening  to  the  deepest,  the  gravest,  and  the 
most  impressive  voice  I  ever  remember  to  have  heard.  But  the 
whole  appearance  and  manner  of  the  man  quite  surprised  me,  so 
completely  superior  was  he  to  anything  I  had  at  all  expected  to 
have  met  wiih.  Indeed,  for  many  minutes,  I  had  given  up  all 
hopes  of  hearing  any  clergyman  at  all ;  certainly  not  one  whose 
every  look,  word  and  action  seemed  to  proceed  from  the  deepest 
thought  and  reflection.  Dressed  in  a  suit  of  common  black 
clothes,  he  had  apparently  nothing  to  distinguish  his  holy  vocation 
but  the  two  white  bands  which  are  worn  by  our  clergymen,  and 
which  appeared  to  be  the  only  neckcloth  he  wore.  In  a  loud 
calm  tone  of  voice,  which,  perfectly  devoid  of  energy,  seemed  to 
be  directed  not  to  the  hearts  but  to  the  understanding  of  his  hear- 
ers, he  advocated  a  cause  in  which  he  evidently  felt  that  he  was 
triumphant ;  and  the  stillness  of  his  attitude,  the  deep  calmness 
of  his  voice,  and  the  icy  cold  deliberation  with  which  he  spoke, 
proved  that  he  was  master  not  only  of  his  subject,  but  of  himself. 

Every  word  he  said  was  apparently  visible  in  his  eyes,  as  if 
reflected  there  from  his  brain.  He  stood  neither  entreating,  com- 
manding, nor  forbidding  ;  but  like  a  man  mathematically  demon- 
strating a  problem,  he  was,  step  by  step,  steadily  laying  before  the 
6 


66  BUBBLES. 


judgment  of  his  readers  truths  and  arguments  which  he  well 
knew  it  was  out  of  their  power  to  deny.  When  he  had  reached 
his  climax  he  suddenly  changed  his  voice,  and,  apparently  con- 
scious of  the  victory  he  had  gained,  in  a  sort  of  half-deep  tone  he 
began  to  ask  a  series  of  questions,  each  of  which  was  followed  by 
a  long  pause  ;  and  in  these  solemn  moments,  when  his  argument 
had  gained  its  victory — when  the  fabric  he  had  been  raising  was 
crowned  with  success — there  was  a  benignity  in  the  triumph  of 
his  unexpected  smile,  which  1  could  not  but  admire,  as  the  mo- 
mentary joy  seemed  to  arise  more  for  the  sake  of  others  than  for 
his  own. 

Occasionally  during  the  discourse  he  raised  a  hand  towards 
heaven — occasionally  he  firmly  placed  it  on  the  bosom  of  his  own 
dark  cloth  waistcoat,  and  then,  slowly  extending  it  towards  his 
congregation,  it  fell  again  lifeless  to  his  side  ;  yet  these  actions, 
trifling  as  they  were,  became  very  remarkable  when  contrasted 
with  the  motionless  attention  of  the  congregation. 

At  times,  an  old  woman,  with  the  knuckle  of  her  shrivelled 
finger,  would  wipe  an  eye,  as  if  the  subject  were  stealing  from 
her  head  to  her  heart ;  but  no  show  of  feeling  was  apparent  in 
the  minister  who  was  addressing  her ;  with  apostolic  dignity,  he 
coldly  proceeded  with  his  argument,  and  amidst  the  storm,  the 
tempest  of  her  feelings,  he  calmly  walked  upon  the  wave  !  Never 
did  I  before  see  a  human  being  listened  to  with  such  statue-like 
attention. 

As  soon  as  the  discourse  was  concluded,  the  psalm  was  given 
out — a  general  rustling  of  leaves  was  heard,  and  in  a  few  mo- 
ments the  whole  congregation  began,  with  open  barn-door  mouths, 
to  sing.  During  this  operation  the  preacher  did  not  sit  up  in  his 
pulpit  to  be  stared  at,  but  his  presence  not  being  required  there, 
he  descended  into  his  pew,  where  1  could  just  faintly  trace  him 
through  the  lattice-work.  Whether  he  sang  or  not  I  do  not  know  ; 
he  was  probably  resting  after  his  fatigue. 

The  singing  lasted  a  long  time ;  the  tune  and  performance 
were  much  what  I  have  already  described,  and  when  the  psalm 
came  to  an  end,  the  same  dead  pause  ensued.  It  continued  rather 
longer  than  before ;  at  last  the  front  door  of  the  lattice  pew 
opened,  and  out  walked  the  tall  self-same  clergyman  in  black. 


THE  LUTHERAN  CHAPEL.  67 

As  he  slowly  advanced  along  the  little  platform,  there  was  a 
general  rustling  of  the  congregation  shutting  their  books,  until 
he  stood  directly  in  front  of  the  little  high  table  covered  with  the 
white  cloth. 

With  the  same  pale,  placid  dignity  of  manner  he  pronounced 
a  short  blessing  on  the  congregation,  who  all  leant  forwards,  as  if 
anxious  to  receive  it,  and  then  dropping  his  two  arms,  which, 
during  this  short  ceremony,  had  been  extended  before  him,  he 
turned  round,  and  as  he  slowly  walked  towards  his  latticed  cell, 
the  people  all  shuffled  out  the  other  way — until,  in  a  few  se- 
conds,  the  small  Lutheran  chapel  of  Langen-Schwalbach  was 
empty. 


BUBBLES. 


THE  NEW  SCHOOL. 


One  morning,  during  breakfast,  I  observed  several  little  children 
passing  my  window  in  their  best  clothes.  The  boys  wore  a  sort 
of  green  sash  of  oak-leaves,  which,  coming  over  the  right  shoul- 
der, crossed  the  back  and  breast,  and  then  winding  once  round 
the  waist,  hung  in  two  ends  on  the  left  side.  The  girls,  dressed 
in  common  white  frocks,  had  roses  in  their  hair,  and  held  green 
garlands  in  their  hands.  On  inquiring  the  reason  of  the  children 
being  dressed  in  this  way,  I  found  out,  with  some  difficulty,  that 
there  was  to  be  a  great  festival  and  procession,  to  celebrate  the 
taking  possession  of  a  new  school,  which,  built  by  the  town,  was 
only  just  completed.  Accordingly,  following  some  of  the  little 
ones  down  the  main  street,  I  passed  this  village  seminary,  whose 
first  birth-day  was  thus  about  to  be  commemorated.  It  was  a  sub- 
stantial building,  consisting  of  a  centre,  with  two  square  projecting 
wings,  and  it  was  quite  large  enough  to  be  taken  by  any  stranger 
for  the  Hotel  de  Ville  of  Langen-Schwalbach.  Wreaths  of  oak- 
leaves  were  suspended  in  front,  and  long  verdant  garlands  of  the 
same  tree  hung  in  festoons  from  one  wing  to  the  other.  It  was  im- 
possible to  contrast  the  size  of  this  building  with  the  small  houses 
in  its  neighborhood,  without  feeling  how  creditable  it  was  to  the 
inhabitants  of  so  small  a  town  thus  to  show  that  a  portion  of  the 
wealth  they  had  mildly  sucked  from  the  stranger's  purse  was  so 
sensibly  and  patriotically  expended.  The  scale  of  the  building 
seemed  to  indicate  that  the  peasants  of  Langen-Schwalbach  were 
liberal  enough  to  desire  that  their  children  should  grow  up  more 
enlightened  than  themselves  ;  and  as  I  passed  it,  I  could  not  help 
recollecting,  with  feelings  of  deep  regret,  that  although  in  Eng- 
land there  is  no  art  or  trade  that  has  not  made  great  improvement 


THE  NEW  SCHOOL.  69 


and  progress,  the  cramped  pater-noster  system  of  our  public 
schools,  as  well  as  of  our  universities,  have  too  long  remained 
almost  the  only  pools  stagnant  in  the  country,  a  fact  which 
can  scarcely  be  reconciled  with  the  rapid  progress  which  our 
lower  orders  have  lately  made  in  useful  knowledge. 

After  passing  this  new  seminary,  I  continued  descending  the 
main  street  about  one  hundred  yards,  which  brought  me  to  a 
small  crowd  of  people,  standing  before  the  old  school,  into  the 
door  of  which,  creeping  under  the  arms  of  the  people,  child  after 
child  hurried  and  disappeared,  like  a  bee  going  into  its  hive. 

The  old  school  of  Langen-Schwalbach  is  one  of  the  most 
ancient  buildings  in  the  town.  Its  elevation  is  fantastic,  border- 
ing on  the  grotesque.  The  gable  seems  to  be  nodding  forwards, 
the  humpbacked  roof  to  be  sinking  in.  The  wooden  framework 
of  the  house,  composed  of  beams  purposely  bent  into  almost  every 
form,  has  besides  been  very  curiously  hewn  and  carved,  and  on 
the  front  wall,  placed  most  irregularly,  there  are  several  inscrip- 
tions, such  as  "  Ora  et  labora,^^  "  1552,"  and  then  again  a  sen- 
tence in  German,  dated  1643,  describing  that  in  that  year  the 
house  was  repaired.  There  is  also  a  grotesque  image  on  the  wall, 
of  a  cliild  hugging  a  cornucopia,  &c.,  &;c.  Nevertheless,  though 
all  the  parts  of  this  ancient  edifice  are  very  rude  there  is  "  a 
method  in  the  madness"  with  which  they  are  arranged,  that, 
somehow  or  other,  makes  the  tout  ensemhie  very  pleasing  ;  and 
whether  it  be  admitted  to  be  good-looking  or  not,  its  venerable 
appearance  almost  any  one  would  be  disposed  to  respect. 

I  observed  that  no  one  entered  this  door  but  the  children. 
However,  as  in  this  simple,  civil  country  great  privileges  are 
granted  to  strangers  (for  here,  like  kings,  they  can  hardly  do 
wrong),  I  ascended  an  old  rattle-trap  staircase,  until,  coming  to  a 
ianding.jjlace,  I  found  one  large  room  on  my  left  crammed  full 
of  little  boys,  and  one  on  my  right  overflowing  with  little  girls, 
these  two  chambers  composing  the  whole  of  the  building. 

On  the  landing-place  I  met  the  three  masters,  all  dressed  very 
respectably  in  black  cloth  clothes.  The  senior  was  about  forty 
years  of  age,  the  two  others  quiet,  nice-looking  young  men  of 
about  twenty-six,  one  of  whom,  to  my  very  great  astonishment, 
addressed  me  in  English.    He  spoke  the  language  very  well,  said 


70  BUBBLES. 


he  could  read  it  with  ease,  but  added  that  he  had  great  difficulty 
in  understanding  it,  unless  when  spoken  very  slowly  ;  in  short, 
as  an  enjoyment  during  the  long-winded  evenings  of  winter,  he 
had  actually  taught  himself  our  hissing,  crabbed  language,  whicii 
he  had  only  heard  spoken  by  a  solitary  Englishman  whose  ac- 
quaintance he  had  formed  last  year. 

He  seemed  not  only  to  be  w^ell  acquainted  with  our  English 
Authors,  but  talked  very  sensibly  about  the  institutions  and  esta- 
blishments of  our  country ;  in  short,  he  evidently  knew  a  great 
deal  more  of  England  than  England  knows  of  Langen-Schwal- 
bach,  of  the  duchy  of  Nassau,  or  of  many  much  vaster  portions 
of  the  globe.  He  informed  me  that  the  school  was  composed  of 
150  boys,  and  about  the  same  number  of  girls  ; — that  of  tliese 
300  children  180  were  Protestants, — 90  Catholics  ;  and  that  since 
the  year  1827,  the  town  having  agreed  to  admit  to  the  blessings 
and  advantages  of  education  the  children  of  the  Jews,  there  were 
twenty  little  boys  of  that  persuasion,  and  one  girl.  Having  wit- 
nessed the  prejudice,  and  indeed  hatred,  which  Christians  and 
Jews  in  many  countries  mutually  entertain  towards  each  other,  I 
was  not  a  little  surprised  at  the  statement  thus  related  to  me. 

After  listening  for  some  time  to  the  tutor,  he  offered  t»  show 
me  the  children,  and  accordingly  with  some  difficulty  we  worked 
our  way  into  the  boys'  room.  It  was  a  pretty  sight  to  witness 
such  an  assemblage  of  little  fellows  with  clean  shining  faces,  and 
their  native  oak-leaves  gave  a  freshness  to  the  scene  which  was 
very  delightful. 

Among  these  white-haired  laddies,  most  of  whom  were  from  four 
to  eight  years  of  age,  it  was  quite  unnecessary  to  inquire  which 
were  the  Jew  boys,  for  there  each  stood,  as  distinctly  marked  as 
their  race  is  all  over  the  face  of  the  globe  ;  yet  I  must  acknow- 
lege  they  were  by  far  the  handsomest  children  in  the  room,  look, 
ing  much  more  like  Spaniards  than  Germans.  The  chamber  full 
of  little  girls  would  have  pleased  anybody,  so  nicely  were  they 
dressed,  and  apparently  so  well-behaved.  Several  were  exceed- 
ingly pretty  children,  and  the  garlands  they  held  in  their  hands, 
the  wreaths  of  roses  which  bloomed  on  their  heads,  and  the  smiles 
that  beamed  on  their  faces,  formed  as  pretty  a  mixture  of  the 
animal  and  vegetable  creation  as  could  well  be  imagined. 


THE  NEW  SCHOOL.  71 


In  one  corner  stood  the  only  Jewish  girl  in  the  room,  and 
Rebecca  herself  could  r*-t  have  had  a  handsomer  nose,  a  pair  of 
brighter  eyes,  or  a  more  marked  expression  of  countenance.  She 
was  more  richly  dressed  than  the  other  village  girls — wore  a 
necklace,  and  I  observed  a  thick  gold  or  brass  ring  on  the  fore- 
finger of  her  left  hand.  We  went  several  times  from  one  room 
full  of  children  to  the  other  ;  and  it  was  really  pleasing  to  sec  in 
a  state  of  such  thoughtless  innocence  those  who  were  to  become 
the  future  possessors  of  the  houses  and  property  of  Langen- 
Schwalbach.  All  of  a  sudden,  a  signal  was  given  to  the  children 
to  descend,  and  it  became  then  quite  as  much  as  the  three  mas- 
ters could  do  to  make  them  go  out  of  the  room  hand-in-hand. 
Down  scrambled  first  the  boys,  and  then  more  quietly  follov/ed 
the  little  girls,  though  not  without  one  or  two  screams  proceeding 
from  those  who  in  their  hurry  had  dropped  their  garlands.  One 
of  these  green  hoops  I  picked  up,  and  seeing  a  little  girl  crying 
her  heart  out,  I  gave  it  to  her,  and  no  balm  of  C4ilead  ever  worked 
so  sudden  a  cure,  for  away  she  ran,  and  joined  her  comrades, 


laughing. 

As  soon  as  the  children  had  all  left  the  two  rooms,  the  three 
masters  descended,  and  we  followed  them  into  the  street,  v/here 
the  civil  authorities  of  the  town,  and  almost  all  the  parents  of 
the  little  ones,  had  assembled.  With  great  difficult}^  the 
children  were  all  collected  together  in  a  group,  in  the  open 
air.  exactly  in  front  of  the  school ;  and  when  this  arrangement 
was  effected,  the  mayor,  two  Catholic  ministers,  two  Protestant 
clergymen,  and  the  three  masters,  stood  exactly  in  front  of  the 
children,  facing  also  the  house  from  which  they  had  proceeded. 
For  some  time,  the  masters  and  the  four  Christian  ministers  stood 
smiling  and  talking  to  each  other  ;  however,  at  last  the  mayor 
made  a  bow,  everybody  took  off  their  hats,  the  ministers'  counte- 
nances stiffened,  and  for  a  few  seconds  a  dead  silence  ensued. 
At  last  the  mayor  with  due  ceremony  took  off  his  hat,  when  the 
youngest  of  the  Lutheran  ministers,  advancing  one  step  in  front, 
commenced  a  long  address  to  the  children. 

What  he  said  I  was  not  near  enough  to  hear  ;  but  I  saw  con- 
stantly beaming  in  his  countenance  that  sort  of  benevolent  smile, 
which  would  be  natural  almost  to  any  one,  in  addressing  so  very 


BUBBLES. 


youthful  a  congregation.  Occasionally  he  pointed  with  his  hand  to 
heaven,  and  then,  continuing  his  subject,  smiled  as  if  to  cheer 
them  on  the  way  ;  but  the  little  toads,  instead  of  attending  to  him, 
were  all  apparently  eager  to  get  to  their  fine  new  school,  and 
with  roses  on  their  heads,  and  garlands  in  their  hands,  they  seemed 
as  if  they  did  not  feel  that  they  stood  in  need  of  a  routing  dose  of 
good  advice  ;  in  short,  not  one  of  them  appeared  to  pay  the  slight- 
est attention  to  a  discourse  which  could  not  but  have  been  very 
interesting  to  the  parents.  However,  in  one  respect,  I  must  own 
I  was  slightly  disappointed  ;  the  burden  of  the  discourse  must 
have  been  on  the  duties  and  future  prospects  of  the  children,  and 
on  the  honors  and  advantages  of  the  new  school ;  for  I  particu- 
larly remarked  that  not  once  did  the  clergyman  point  or  address 
himself  to  the  old  building — not  a  single  eye  but  my  own  was  ever 
turned  towards  it,  and  none  but  myself  seemed  to  feel  for  it  any 
regret  that  it  was  about  to  lose  a  village  importance  which  for  so 
many  years  it  had  enjoyed.  It  was  sentenced  to  be  deserted,  and 
walls  which  had  long  been  enlivened  by  the  cheerful  sound  of 
youthful  voices,  were  in  their  old  age  suddenly  to  be  bereft  of  all  I 
I  could  not  help  feeling  for  the  old  institution,  and  when  the 
discourse  was  ended — when  hats  had  returned  to  people's  heads, 
and  when  the  procession  of  children,  followed  by  the  ministers, 
had  already  begun  to  move,  I  could  not  for  some  time  take  my 
eyes  off  the  old  fabric.  The  date  1552,  and  the  rude-looking 
image  of  the  boy,  particularly  attracted  my  attention  ;  however, 
the  old  hive  was  deserted, — the  bees  had  swarmed — had  already 
hovered  in  the  air,  and  to  their  new  abode  they  had  all  flown 
away.  Jostled  from  my  position  by  people  who  were  following 
the  procession,  I  proceeded  onwards  with  the  crowd,  but  not  with- 
out mumbling  to  myself — 

Let  others  hail  the  rising  sun, 
I  bow  to  him  whose  course  is  run. 

As  soon  as  the  children  reached  their  fine  new  abode,  a  band, 
which  had  been  awaiting  their  arrival,  struck  up  ;  and  in  the 
open  air  they  instantly  sung  a  hymn.  The  doors  were  then 
thrown  open,  and  in  high  glee  the  little  creatures  scrambled  up 
the  staircase,   and   the  mayor,   clergyman,   and   school-masters 


THE  NEW  SCHOOL.  73 

having  followed,  a  great  rush  was  made  by  parents  and  specta- 
tors. I  managed  to  gain  a  good  place,  but  in  very  few 
moments  the  room  was  filled,  and  so  jammed  up  with  people, 
that  they  could  scarcely  raise  their  hands  to  wipe  the  perspiration 
which  soon  began  to  appear  very  copiously  on  all  faces.  It 
became  dreadfully  hot,  and  besides  suffering  from  this  cause,  I  felt 
by  no  means  happy  at  a  calculation  which  very  unwelcomeny 
kept  forcing  itself  into  my  mind — namely,  that  the  immense 
weight  of  human  flesh  which  was  for  the  first  time  trying  new- 
beams,  might  produce  a  consummation  by  no  means  "  devoutly  to 
be  wished." 

As  soon  as  order  was  established,  and  silence  obtained,  the 
Catholic  minister  addressed  the  children ;  and  when  he  had 
finished,  the  tall  Lutheran  clergyman,  whose  description  I  have 
already  given  to  the  reader,  followed  in  his  deepest  tone,  and  with 
his  gravest  demeanor ;  but  it  was  all  lost  upon  the  children : 
indeed  it  was  so  hot,  and  we  were  so  little  at  our  ease,  that 
all  were  very  glad,  indeed,  to  hear  him  conclude  by  the  word 
'•  Amen  !" 

The  children  now  sang  another  hymn,  which,  in  a  cooler 
climate,  would  have  been  quite  beautiful ;  the  mayor  made  a  bow 
— the  thing  was  at  an  end,  and  I  believe  every  one  was  as  much 
delighted  as  myself  to  get  once  again  into  pure  fresh  air. 

As  I  had  been  told  by  the  teacher  that  the  children  would 
dance  and  eat  in  the  evening,  at  four  o'clock,  I  went  to  the 
school  at  that  hour,  expecting  that  there  would  be  what  in  Eng- 
land would  be  called  "  a  ball  and  supper  ;"  however,  the  supper 
had  come  first,  and  the  remains  of  it  were  on  two  long  tables. 
The  feast  which  the  little  ones  had  been  enjoying  had  consisted 
of  a  slice  of  white  bread  and  a  glass  of  Rhenish  wine  for  each  ; 
and,  as  soon  as  I  entered  the  room,  two  policemen  bowed  and 
begged  me  to  be  seated.  They  and  their  friends  were  evidently 
regaling  themselves  with  the  wine  which  had  been  furnished  for 
the  children  ;  however,  the  little  creatures  did  not  seem  to  want 
it,  and  I  was  very  glad  to  see  it  inflaming  the  eyes  of  the  old 
party,  and  flushing  their  cheeks,  instead  of  having  a  similar  effect 
on  the  young  ones. 

It  had  been  settled  that  the  children  were  to  dance ;  but  they 


74  BUBBLES. 


were  much  too  young  to  care  for  such  an  amusement.  The  little 
boys  had  got  together  at  one  end  of  the  room,  and  the  girls  were 
sitting  laughing  at  the  other,  both  groups  being  as  happily  inde- 
pendent as  it  was  possible  to  be.  Sometimes  the  boys  amused 
themselves  with  a  singing  game — one  chanting  a  line,  and  all  the 
rest  bursting  in  with  the  chorus,  which,  though  it  contained  nearly 
as  much  laughter  as  music,  showed  that  the  youngsters  were  well 
enough  conversant  with  both.  The  girls  had  also  their  song.  As 
I  left  the  room,  several  of  the  children  were  singing  on  the  stairs 
— all  were  as  happy  as  I  had  desired  to  see  them  ;  and  yet  I 
firmly  believe  that  the  whole  festival  I  have  described, — oak- 
leaves,  roses,  garlands,  festoons,  bread,  wine,  &c.,  altogether, — 
could  not  have  cost  the  town  of  Langen-Schwalbach  ten  shillings  ! 
Nevertheless,  in  its  history,  the  opening  of  a  public  establishment 
so  useful  to  future  generations,  and  so  creditable  to  the  present  one, 
was  an  event  of  no  inconsiderable  importance. 


THE  OLD  PROTESTANT  CHURCH.  75 


THE  OLD  PROTESTANT  CHURCH 


The  old  Protestant  Church,  at  the  lower  extremity  of  Langen- 
Schwalbach,  has  not  been  preached  in  for  about  three  years ;  and 
it  being  locked  up,  I  had  to  call  for  admission  at  a  house  in  the 
centre  of  the  town.  The  man  was  not  at  home,  but  his  wife  (very 
busily  employed  in  dressing,  against  its  will,  a  squalling  infant) 
pointed  to  the  key,  which  I  gravely  took  from  a  nail  over  her 
head.  This  venerable  building  stands,  or  rather  totters,  on  a 
small  eminence  close  to  the  road — long  rents  in  its  walls,  and  the 
ruinous,  decayed  state  of  the  mortar,  sufficiently  denoting  its 
great  antiquity.  The  roof  and  spires  are  still  covered  with  slates, 
which  seem  fluttering  as  if  about  to  take  their  departure.  The 
churchyard  continues  in  the  valley  to  be  the  only  Christian 
receptacle  for  the  dead ;  and  within  its  narrow  limits.  Catholics, 
Lutherans,  and  Calvinists  end  their  worldly  differences  by  soundly 
sleeping  together,  side  by  side.  Here  and  there  a  tree  is  seen 
standing  at  the  head  of  a  Protestant's  grave  ;  but,  though  the  twig 
was  exclusively  planted  there,  yet  its  branches,  like  knowledge, 
have  gradually  extended  themselves,  until  they  now  wave  and 
droop  alike  over  those  who,  thus  joined  in  death,  had,  neverthe- 
less, lived  in  paltry  opposition  to  each  other.  The  rank  grass 
also  grows  with  equal  luxuriance  over  all,  as  if  the  turf,  like  the 
trees,  was  anxious  to  level  all  human  animosities,  and  to  become 
the  winding-sheet  or  covering  of  Christian  fraternities  which 
ought  never  to  have  disputed. 

In  various  parts  of  the  cemetery  I  observed  several  worn-out, 
wooden,  triangular  monuments  on  the  totter ;  while  others  were 
lying  prostrate  on  the  grass — the  "  hie  jacet "  being  exactly 
as  applicable  to  each  of  themselves  as  to  that  departed  beings 


76  BUBBLES. 


whose  life  and  death  they  had  vainly  presumed  to  commemorate. 
Although  the  inscriptions  recorded  by  these  frail  historians  were 
scarcely  legible,  yet  roses  and  annual  flowers,  blooming  on  the 
grave,  plainly  showed  that  there  was  still  in  existence  some  friendly 
hand,  some  foot,  some  heart,  that  moved  with  kindly  recollection 
towards  the  dead.  Upon  several  recent  graves  of  children  there 
were  placed,  instead  of  tombstones,  the  wreaths  of  artificial 
flowers,  which  during  their  funeral  had  either  rested  upon  the 
coffin,  or  had  been  carried  in  the  hands  of  parents  and  friends. 
The  sun  and  rain — the  wind  and  storm — had  blanched  the  arti- 
ficial bloom  from  the  red  roses,  and,  of  course,  had  sullied  the 
purity  of  the  white  ones ;  yet  this  worthless  finery,  lying  upou 
the  newly-moved  earth,  had  probably  witnessed  unaffected  feel- 
ings, to  which  the  cold,  white  marble  monument  is  often  a  stranger. 
The  little  heap  of  perishable  wreaths,  so  lightly  piled  one  upon 
the  other,  was  the  act,  the  tribute,  the  effusion  of  the  moment :  it 
was  all  the  mother  had  had  to  record  her  feelings  ;  it  was  what 
she  had  left  behind  her,  as  she  tore  herself  away  ;  and  though  it 
could  not,  I  own,  be  compared  to  an  expensive  monument  sculp- 
tured by  an  artist,  yet,  resting  above  the  coffin,  it  had  one  intrinsic 
value — at  least,  it  had  been  left  there  by  a  friend  ! 

At  one  corner  of  the  churchyard,  there  was  a  grave  which  was 
only  just  completed.  The  living  laborer  had  retired  from  it;  the 
dead  tenant  had  not  yet  arrived  ;  but  the  m-oment  I  looked  into  it,  I 
could  not  help  feeling  how  any  one  of  our  body-snatchers  would 
have  rubbed  his  rough  hands,  and  what  rude  raptures  he  would 
have  enjoyed,  at  observing  that  the  lid  of  the  coffin  would  be  de- 
posited scarcely  a  foot  and  a  half  below  the  sod.  However,  in  the 
little  duchy  of  Nassau,  human  corpses  have  not  yet  become  coin 
current  in  the  realm  ;  and  whatever  may  be  a  man's  troubles 
during  his  life,  at  Langen-Schwalbach  he  may  truly  say  he  will, 
at  least,  find  rest  in  the  grave. 

I  know  it  is  very  wrong — I  know  that  one  is  always  blamed  for 
bringing  before  the  mind  of  wealthy  people  any  truth  which  is 
at  all  disagreeable  to  them  ;  yet  on  the  brink  of  this  grave  I  could 
not  help  feeling  how  very  much  one  ought  to  detest  the  polite 
Paris  and  London  fashion  of  smartening  up  us  old  people  with  the 
teeth  and  hair  of  the  dead  !     It  always  seems  to  me  so  unfair,  for 


THE  OLD  PROTESTANT  CHURCH.  77 


us  who  have  had  our  day — who  have  ourselves  heen  young — to 
attempt,  when  we  grow  old,  to  deprive  the  rising  generation  of  the 
advantage  of  that  contrast  which  so  naturally  enhances  their 
beauties.  The  spring  of  life,  to  be  justly  appreciated  and  admir- 
ed,  requires  to  be  compared  with  the  snow  and  storms  of  winter, 
and  if  by  chicanery  you  hide  the  latter,  the  sunshine  of  the  for- 
mer  loses  a  great  portion  of  its  beauty.  In  naked,  savage  life, 
there  exists  no  picture  on  which  I  have  so  repeatedly  gazed  with 
calm  pleasure,  as  that  of  the  daughter  supporting  the  trembling, 
dilapidated  fabric  of  the  being  to  whom  she  owes  her  birth ;  in- 
deed, it  is  as  impossible  for  man  to  withhold  the  respect  and  pity 
which  is  due  to  age  whenever  it  be  seen  laboring  under  its  real 
infirmities,  as  it  is  for  him  to  contain  his  admiration  of  the  natural 
loveliness  of  youth.  The  parent  and  child,  thus  contrasted,  render 
to  each  other  services  of  which  both  appear  to  be  insensible  -,  for 
the  mother  does  not  seem  aware  how  the  shattered  outlines  of  her 
faded  frame  heighten  the  robust,  blooming  beauties  of  her  child, 
wlio,  in  her  turn,  seems  equally  unconscious  how  beautifully  and 
eloquently  her  figure  explains  and  pleads  for  the  helpless  decre- 
pitude of  age !  In  the  Babel  confusion  of  our  fashionable  world, 
this  beautifully  arranged  contrast  of  nature,  the  effect  of  which 
no  one  who  has  ever  seen  it  can  forget,  does  not  exist.  Before 
the  hair  has  grown  really  grey — before  time  has  imparted  to  it 
even  its  autumnal  tint,  it  is  artfully  replaced  by  dark  flowing 
locks,  obtained  by  every  revolting  contrivance.  The  grave  itself 
is  attacked — our  living  dowagers  of  the  present  day  do  not  hesi- 
tate to  borrow  their  youthful  ornaments  even  from  the  dead — and 
to  such  a  horrid  extreme  has  fashion  encouraged  this  unnatural 
propensity,  that  even  the  carcase  of  the  soldier,  who  has  fallen  in 
a  foreign  land,  and  who, 

leavin!5  in  battle  no  blot  on  his  name, 

Looks  proudly  to  heaven  from  the  death -bed  of  fame, — 

has  not  been  respected  ! 

One  would  think  that  the  ribands  and  honors  on  his  breast, 
flapping  in  the  wind,  would  have  scared  even  the  vulture  from 
such  prey  ;  but  no  !  the  orders  which  the  London  dentist  has  re- 


78  BUBBLES. 


ceived  must,  he  pleads,  be  punctually  executed ;  and  it  is  a 
revolting  fact,  but  too  well  known  to  "  the  trade,"  that  many,  and 
many,  and  many  a  set  of  teeth  which  bit  the  dust  of  Waterloo,  by 
an  untimely  resurrection  appeared  again  on  earth,  smiling  lasci- 
viously at  Almacks'  ball !     So  much  for  what  is  termed  fashion. 

After  rambling  about  the  churchyard  for  some  minutes,  occa- 
sionally spelling  at  an  inscription,  and  sometimes  looking  at  (not 
picking)  a  sepulchral  flower,  I  walked  to  the  church-door,  and 
turning  round  its  old-fashioned  key,  which  ever  since  I  had  re- 
ceived it  had  been  dangling  in  my  hand,  the  lock  started  back, 
and  then,  as  if  I  had  said  "  Open,  Sesame  !"  the  door  opened. 

On  looking  before  me,  my  first  impression  was  that  my  head 
was  swimming  !  for  the  old  gallery,  hanging  like  the  gardens  of 
Babylon,  seemed  to  be  writhing ;  the  four-and-twenty  pews  were 
leaning  sideways ;  the  aisle,  or  approach  to  the  altar,  covered 
with  heaps  of  rubbish,  was  an  undulating  line,  and  an  immense 
sepulchral  flag-stone  had  actually  been  lifted  up  at  one  side,  as  if 
the  corpse,  finding  the  church  deserted,  had  restlessly  burst  from 
his  grave,  and  had  wrenched  himself  once  again  into  daylight. 
The  pulpit  was  out  of  its  perpendicular ;  some  pictures,  loosely 
hanging  against  the  wall,  had  turned  away  their  faces  ;  and  a 
couple  of  planks  were  resting  diagonally  against  the  altar,  as  if 
they  had  fallen  from  the  roof.  I  really  rubbed  my  eyes,  fancying 
that  they  were  disordered ;  however,  the  confusion  I  witnessed 
was  real,  and  as  nearly  as  possible  as  I  have  described  it.  Still, 
however,  there  was  no  dampness  in  the  church,  and  it  was,  I 
thought,  a  remarkable  proof  of  the  dryness  of  the  light  mountain 
air  of  Langen-Schwalbach,  that  the  sepulchral  wreaths  of  artifi- 
cial flowers  which  were  hanging  around  on  the  walls  were  as 
starched  and  as  stiflT  as  on  the  day  they  were  placed  there. 

A  piece  of  dingy  black  cloth,  with  narrow  white  fringe,  was  the 
only  ornament  to  the  pulpit,  from  which  both  book  and  minister 
had  so  long  departed.  The  thing  was  altogether  on  the  totter ; 
yet  when  I  reflected  what  little  harm  it  had  done  in  the  world, 
and  how  much  good,  I  could  not  help  acknowledging  that  respect 
was  justly  due  to  its  old  age,  and  that,  even  by  the  stranger,  it 
ought  to  be  regarded  with  sentiments  of  veneration.  In  gazing 
at  monuments  of  antiquity,  one  of  the  most  natural  pleasures 


THE  OLD  PROTESTANT  CHURCH.  79 

which  the  mind  enjoys  is  being  by  them  fancifully  transported  to 
the  scenes  which  they  so  clearly  commemorate.  The  Roman 
amphitheatre  becomes  filled  with  gladiators  and  spectators  ; — the 
streets  of  Pompeii  are  seen  again  thronged  with  people  ; — the 
Grecian  temple  is  ornamented  with  the  votive  offerings  of  heroes 
and  of  senators  ; — even  the  putrid  marsh  of  Marathon  teems  with 
noble  recollections ;  while  at  home,  on  the  battlements  of  our  old 
English  castles,  we  easily  figure  to  ourselves  barons  proud  of  their 
deeds,  and  sturdy  vassals  in  armor  faithfully  devoted  to  their  ser- 
vice ;  in  short,  while  beholding  such  scenes,  the  heart  glows,  until, 
by  its  feverish  heat,  feelings  are  produced  to  which  no  one  can  be 
completely  insensible  :  however,  when  we  awaken  from  this  de- 
lightful dream,  it  is  difficult,  indeed  impossible,  to  drive  away  the 
painful  moral  which,  sooner  or  later  in  the  day,  proves  to  us  much 
too  clearly,  that  these  ruins  have  outlived,  and,  in  fact,  comme- 
morate, the  errors,  the  passions,  and  the  prejudices  which  caused 
them  to  be  built. 

But  after  looking  up  at  the  plain,  unassuming  pulpit  of  an  old 
Lutheran  church,  one  feels,  long  after  one  has  left  it,  that  all  that 
has  proceeded  from  its  simple  desk  has  been  to  promulgate  peace, 
good-Vvill,  and  happiness  among  mankind ;  and  though,  in  its  old 
age,  it  be  now  deserted,  yet  no  one  can  deny  that  the  seeds  which, 
in  various  directions,  it  has  scattered  before  the  wind,  are  not  only 
vigorously  flourishing  in  the  little  valley  in  which  it  stands,  but 
must  continue  there  and  elsewhere  to  produce  efiects  which  time 
itself  can  scarcely  annihilate. 

Turning  towards  the  altar,  I  was  looking  at  pictures  of  the 
twelve  apostles,  who,  like  sentinels  at  their  posts,  were  in  various 
attitudes  surrounding  it,  when  apropos  to  nothing,  the  great  clock 
in  the  belfry  struck  four,  and  so  little  did  I  expect  to  hear  any  noise 
at  all,  that  I  could  not  help  starting  at  being  thus  suddenly  re- 
minded'that  the  watch  was  still  ticking  in  the  fob  of  the  dead 
soldier — in  short,  that  that  clock  was  still  faithfully  pointing  out  the 
progress  of  time,  though  the  church  to  which  it  belonged  had 
already,  practically  speaking,  terminated  its  existence !  Never 
did  I  before  listen  to  four  vibrations  of  an  old  church  clock  with 
more  reverential  attention :  however,  at  each  stroke  involuntarily 
looking  upwards,  I  did  not  altogether  enjoy  the  sight  of  some  loose 


80  BUBBLES. 


rafters  which  were  hanging  over  my  head.  I  therefore  very 
quietly  moved  onwards,  yet,  passing  a  small  door,  I  could  not 
resist  clambering  up  an  old  well-staircase  which  led  to  the  belfry ; 
not,  however,  until  I  had  calculated  that,  as  the  building  could 
bear  the  bells,  my  weight  was  not  likely  to  turn  the  scale.  I  did 
not,  however,  feel  disposed  to  reach  the  bells,  but  managed,  through 
a  rent  in  the  wall,  to  look  down  on  the  roof,  and  such  a  scene  of 
devastation  it  would  be  difficult  to  describe.  The  half-mouldered 
slates  had  not  only  been  ripped  away  by  the  wind  in  every  direc- 
tion, but  the  remainder  appeared  as  if  they  were  just  ready  to 
follow  in  the  flight.  The  roof  was  bending  in,  and  altogether  it 
looked  so  completely  on  the  totter,  that  the  slightest  additional 
weight  would  have  brought  everything  to  the  ground.  After 
descending,  I  went  once  more  round  the  church,  opened  some  of 
the  old  latticed  pews — peeped  into  the  marble  font,  which  was 
half-filled  wth  decayed  mortar — took  up  a  bird's  nest  that  had 
fallen  into  the  chancel  from  the  roof, — and  strolling  towards  the 
altar,  I  found  there  a  small  board  covered  with  white  pasteboard, 
and  ornamented  with  a  garland  of  roses.  On  this  simple  tablet 
were  inscribed,  in  black  letters,  the  names  of  the  little  band  of 
Langen-Schwalbachians  who  had  been  present  in  the  great  cam- 
paign of  1815 ;  and  in  case  the  reader  should  like  to  know  not 
only  who  were  the  heroes  of  so  remote  a  valley,  but  also  what  sort 
of  names  they  possessed,  I  offer  him  a  copy  of  the  muster-roll  of 
those  thus  distinguished  for  having  served  their  native  country, 
which  the  German  language  emphatically  calls,  "  Vaterland." — 

Dem.  Verdientfeer  Eberhard  Hofman  Eberhard  Rucker 

Conrad  Blies  Wilhelm  Koch  Casper  Scheiik 

Adam  Buslach  Plilipp  Kraus  Philipp  SinghofF 

Ludwig  Diefenbach  Adam  Klenig  Johannes  Sartor 

Martin  Eschenever  Christop  Lindle  Ferdinand  Wensel. 

Philipp  Hoenig  Ludwig  Liedebach 

Having  carefully  locked  up  the  old  church  with  all  the  relics 
it  contained,  descending  the  steps  of  the  eminence  on  which  it 
stood,  I  once  more  found  myself  in  the  street  among  fellow-" 
creatures. 

The  new  Protestant  church,  which  is  very  shortly  to  be  built, 


THE  OLD  PROTESTANT  CHURCH.  81 

and  to  which  the  bells  of  this  old  one.  if  possible,  are  to  be  re- 
moved, will  be  in  the  centre  of  the  town ;  but  this  site,  though 
more  convenient,  will  not,  I  think,  be  so  picturesque  as  that  of 
the  old  building,  which,  with  the  Catholic  church  at  the  other  ex- 
tremity of  the  tov.n,  seem  to  be  the  alpha  and  omega — the  be- 
ginning and  the  end  of  Langen-Schwalbach.  From  the  surround- 
ing hills,  as  the  eye  glances  from  the  one  of  these  old  buildings 
to  the  otlier,  they  appear  to  be  the  good  Genii  of  the  town — two 
guardian  angels  to  watch  over  the  welfare  of  its  people  here  and 
hereafter. 

7 


82  BUBBLES. 


THE   JEWISH   SYNAGOGUE 


The  low  part  of  Langen-Schwalbach,  where  the  Jews  live,  is  the 
most  ancient  portion  of  the  town,  the  houses  they  inhabit  being  just 
above  and  below  the  great  original  brunncn  or  fountain,  which, 
as  I  have  stated,  was  celebrated  for  its  medicinal  properties  even 
in  the  time  of  the  Romans.  This  immense  spring,  M'hich  rises 
within  a  foot  and  a  half  of  the  surface  of  the  ground  (being  then 
carried  away  by  a  subterranean  drain),  is  tv.o  or  three  times  as 
large  as  the  Stahl  brunnen,  the  Wein  brunnen,  or  the  fashionable 
Pauline.  It  contains  very  little  iron,  being  principally  sulphure- 
ous. From  the  violence  with  which  it  rises  from  the  rock,  the 
water  is  apparently  constantly  boiling,  and  such  a  suffocating  gas 
arises  from  it,  that,  as  at  the  Grotto  del  Cane,  at  Naples,  one  sin- 
gle inhalation  would  be  nearly  sufficient  to  deprive  a  person  of 
his  senses.  Besides  being  strongly  impregnated  with  this  gas,  it 
has  also  such  an  unearthly  taste,  that  one  almost  fancies  it  must 
flow  direct  from  the  cellar  of  his  Satanic  majesty.  Still,  how- 
ever, the  Jews  constantly  drink,  cook,  and  even  wash  with  this 
water ;  however,  being  below  the  surface,  it  is  necessary  for  them 
to  stoop  into  the  suffocating  vapor  whenever  they  fill  their  pitch- 
ers ;  and  as  one  sees  Jewess  after  Jewess  dipping  her  dark  greasy 
head  into  this  infernal  caldron,  holding  her  breath,  and  then  sud- 
denly raising  her  head,  with  a  momentary  paleness  and  an  aspi- 
ration which  sufficiently  explain  her  sensations,  one  feels  any- 
thing but  sympathy  for  a  being  who  can  voluntary  flutter  in 
such  a  fetid  climate. 

With  sentiments,  I  fear,  not  very  liberal,  I  stood  for  many 
minutes  looking  at  those  who  came  to  fill  their  pitchers  ;  at  last, 
rather  a  better  feeling  shooting  across  me,  I  resolved  once  more 


THE  JEWISH  SYNAGOGUE.  83 


to  make  a  trial  of  water  on  which  so  many  of  my  fellow-crea- 
tures seemed  to  subsist,  and  I  accordingly  dipped  my  hand  into 
a  large  washing-tub  which  an  old  Jewess  had  half  sutfocated 
herself  in  filling  with  her  pitclier.  The  woman  offered  me  no 
sign  or  word  of  disrespect,  but  I  saw  her  cast  a  withering  look  at 
the  water,  as  if  a  cup  of  poison  had  been  poured  into  it :  she  con- 
tinned,  however,  very  quietly  to  fill  her  other  tubs ;  but  after  I 
had  walked  away,  turning  suddenly  round  for  a  moment,  I  saw 
her  upset  the  tub  from  which  I  had  drank,  her  lips  muttering  at 
the  same  time  some  short  observation  to  a  sister  Jewess  standing 
beside  her. 

I  could  not,  however,  help  acknowledging  that  her  prejudice 
was  not  more  illiberal,  and  certainly  far  more  excusable,  than 
my  own  ;  and  as  I  had  determined  to  attend  that  evening  the 
Jewish  synagogue,  in  the  mean  while  I  did  what  I  could  to  bring 
my  mind  to  a  proper  state  of  feeling  towards  a  people  whose  form 
of  worship  1  was  desirous  seriously  to  witness. 

Never  had  I  before  chanced  to  enter  a  synagogue ;  yet,  when 
I  had  reflected  on  the  singular  history  of  the  Jews,  I  had  often 
concluded  that  there  must  be  some  strange,  unaccountable  at- 
traction, something  inexplicably  mysterious  in  their  form  of  wor- 
ship which  could  have  induced  them  to  brave  the  persecutions 
that  in  all  ages,  and  in  so  many  countries,  had  traced  out  their 
history  in  letters  of  blood. 

Full  of  curiosity,  I  had  therefore  inquired  at  what  hour  on 
Friday  their  church  would  assemble,  and  being  told  that  they 
would  meet  "  as  soon  as  the  stars  were  visible,"  I  walked  towards 
the  synagogue,  a  few  minutes  after  sunset,  and  in  every  Jewish 
house  [  observed,  as  1  passed  it,  seven  candles  burning  in  a  cir- 
cle.  The  house  of  worship  was  a  small  oblong  hovel,  not  unlike 
a  barn.  The  door  was  open,  but  no  human  being  appeared  within, 
excepting  a  man  over  whose  shoulders  there  was  thrown  a  piece  of 
common  brown  sack-cloth.  This  personage,  who  turned  out  to  be 
the  priest,  stood  before  a  sort  of  altar  ;  and,  just  as  careless  of  it  as 
of  us,  he  stood  bowing  to  it  incessantly.  There  being  not  much 
to  see  in  these  vibrations,  I  walked  away,  and  returning  in  about 
five  minutes,  I  found  the  congregation  had  suddenly  assembled, 
and  the  service  begun. 


Si  BUBBLES. 


In  the  course  of  my  life,  like  most  people,  I  have  chanced  to 
witness  a  great  variety  of  forms  of  worship,  several  of  which  it 
would  not  be  very  easy  to  describe.  For  instance,  it  would  be 
difficult,  or  rather  impossible,  to  delineate,  by  words,  high  mass, 
as  performed  in  the  great  church  of  St.  Peter,  at  Rome.  One 
might,  indeed,  fully  describe  any  part  of  it,  but  the  silence  of 
one  moment,  the  burst  of  music  at  another,  the  immensity  of  the 
building,  and  the  assembled  congregation,  produce  altogether 
sensations  on  the  eye  and  ear  which  the  goose-quill  has  not  power 
to  impart.  Again,  to  the  simple  homage  which  a  Peruvian  In- 
dian pays  to  the  sun  no  man  could  do  justice  ;  one  might  describe 
his  attitude  as  he  prostrates  himself  before  what  he  conceives  to 
be  the  burning  ruler  of  the  universe,  but  the  fleeting  expressions 
of  his  supplicating  countenance,  as  it  trembles — hopes — flushes — 
and  then,  with  eyes  dazzled  to  dimness,  trembles  again, — may  be 
witnessed,  but  cannot  be  described.  One  of  the  wildest  forms  of 
worship  I  ever  beheld  w^as,  perhaps,  the  dance  of  the  Dervishes, 
at  Athens ;  for  there  is  a  sort  of  enthusiasm  in  the  convulsions 
into  which  these  twelve  men  throw  themselves,  which  has  a  most 
indescribable  eflect  on  those  who  witness  it :  it  is  madness, — yet 
it  is  a  tempest  of  the  mind  within  the  range  of  which  no  man's 
senses  can  live  unruflled  ; — the  strongest  judgment  bends  before 
the  gale,  and  insensibly  are  the  feelings  led  astray  by  conduct, 
actions,  M'ords,  grimaces,  and  contortions,  which,  taken  altogether. 
are  indescribable. 

But  although  these  and  many  other  forms  of  worship  may  be 
original  pictures  which  cannot  be  copied,  yet  I  think  a  child  of 
about  ten  years  of  age,  if  he  could  only  hold  a  pen,  might  give  a 
reader  as  good  a  notion  of  Langen-Schwalbach  synagogue,  as  if 
he  had  been  there  himself  a  thousand  thiies ;  for  all  the  pooi* 
child  would  have  to  do  would  be  to  beg  him  to  imagine  a  small 
dirty  barn,  swarming  with  fleas,  filled  with  dirty  looking  men  in 
dirty  dresses,  with  old  hats  on  their  heads,  spitting — hallooing — 
reading — bowing — hallooing  louder  than  ever — scratching  them- 
selves as  they  leave  the  synagogue, — and  then  calmly  walking 
home  to  their  seven  candles  ! 

To  any  serious,  reflecting  mind,  all  religions,  to  a  certain  point, 
are  worthy  of  respect.     It  is  true,  all  cannot  be  right,  yet  the 


THE  JEWISH  SYNAGOGUE.  85 

errors  are  those  which  fellow-creatures  need  not  dispute  among 
each  other ;  he  who  has  tlic  happiness  to  go  right  has  no  just 
cause  to  be  offended  with  those  "s\ho  unfortunately  have  mistaken 
their  course  ;  and  however  men's  political  opinions  may  radiate 
from  each  other,  yet  their  zeal  for  religion  is  at  least  one  tie 
^\  hich  ought  to  connect  them  together.  However,  the  Jews  of 
Langen-Scliwalbach,  so  far  as  a  spectator  can  judge  by  their  be- 
havior, do  not  even  pretend  to  be  zealous  in  their  cause.  There 
is  no  pretence  of  feeling, — no  attempt  either  at  humbug  or  effect. 
They  perform  their  services  as  if,  having  made  a  regular  bargain 
to  receive  certain  blessings  for  hallooing  a  certain  time,  they  con- 
ceived that  ail  they  had  to  do  was  scrupulously  to  perform  their 
part  of  the  contract,  that  there  was  no  occasion  to  exceed  tlieir 
agreement,  or  give  more  than  was  absolutely  required  by  the 
bond. 

As  I  stood  just  v/ithin  the  door  of  the  synagogue,  listening  to 
their  rude,  uncouth,  noisy  worship,  almost  every  eye  was  turned 
upon  me,  and  the  expression  of  many  of  the  countenances  was  so 
ill-favored,  that  I  very  soon  left  them,  though  I  had  even  then  a 
long  way  to  walk  before  I  ceased  to  hear  the  strange  wild  bulla- 
bulloo  they  were  making. 


86  BUBBLES. 


THE    HARVEST 


All  this  day  I  have  been  strolling  about  the  fields,  watching  the 
getting  in  of  the  harvest.  The  crops  of  oats,  rye,  and  wheat 
(principally  bearded),  are  much  heavier  than  anyone  would  expect 
from  such  light  and  apparently  poor  land ;  but  the  heavy  dews 
which  characterize  the  summer  climate  of  this  high  country 
impart  a  nourishment,  which  in  richer  lands  often  lies  dormant 
from  drought.  In  Nassau,  the  corn  is  cut  principally  by  women, 
who  use  a  sickle  so  very  small  and  light,  that  it  seems  but  little 
labor  to  wield  it.  They  begin  early  in  the  morning,  and  with 
short  intervals  of  rest  continue  till  eleven  o'clock,  wlien  the 
various  village  bells  suddenly  strike  up  a  merry  peal,  which  is  a 
signal  to  the  laborers  to  come  home  to  their  dinners.  It  is  a  very 
interesting  scene  to  observe,  over  the  undulating  surface  of  the 
whole  country,  groups  of  peasants,  brothers,  sisters,  parents,  &c., 
all  bending  to  their  sickles — to  see  children  playing  round  infants 
lying  fast  asleep  on  blue  smock-frocks  placed  under  the  shade  of 
the  corn  sheaves.  It  is  pleasing  to  remark  the  rapid  progress 
which  the  several  parties  are  making ;  how  each  little  family, 
attacking  its  own  patch  or  property,  works  its  way  into  the  stand- 
ing corn,  leaving  the  golden  crop  prostrate  behind  them  :  and 
then,  in  the  middle  of  this  simple,  rural,  busy  scene,  it  is  delight- 
ful indeed  to  hear  from  the  belfry  of  their  much-revered  churches 
a  peal  of  cheerful  notes,  which  peacefully  sound  "  lullaby "'  to 
them  all.  In  a  very  few  seconds  the  square  fields  and  little 
oblong  plots  are  deserted,  and  then  the  various  roads  and  paths  of 
the  country  suddenly  burst  in  lines  upon  the  attention,  each  being 
delineated  by  a  string  of  peasants,  who  are  straggling  one  behind' 
the  other,  until  paths  in  all  directions  are  seen  converging  towards 


THE  HARVEST.  S7 


the   parental    village   churches,   which   seem   to    be   attracting 
them  all. 

As  soon  as  each  field  of  corn  is  cut,  it  is  bound  into  sheaves, 
about  the  size  they  are  in  England  :  seven  of  these  are  then  made 
to  lean  towards  each  other,  and  upon  them  all  is  placed  a  large 
sheaf  reversed,  the  ears  of  which  hanging  downwards  form  a  sort 
of  thatch,  which  keeps  this  little  stack  dry  until  its  owner  has  time 
to  carry  it  to  his  home.  It  generally  remains  many  days  in  this 
state,  and  after  the  harvest  has  been  all  cut,  the  country  covered 
with  these  stacks  resembles  a  vast  encampment. 

The  carts  and  waggons  used  for  carrying  the  corn  are  exceed- 
ingly well  adapted  to  the  country.  Their  particular  characteris- 
tic is  excessive  lightness,  and,  indeed,  were  they  heavy,  it  would 
be  quite  impossible  for  any  cattle  to  draw  them  up  and  down  the 
hills.  Occasionally  they  are  drawn  by  horses — often  by  small 
active  oxen  ;  but  cows  more  generally  perform  this  duty,  and 
with  quite  as  much  patience  as  their  mistresses,  at  the  same  mo- 
ment, arc  laboring  before  them  at  the  sickle.  The  yoke  or  beam 
by  which  these  cows  are  connected,  is  placed  immediately  behind 
their  horns ;  a  little  leather  pillow  is  then  laid  upon  their  brow, 
over  which  passes  a  strap  that  firmly  lashes  their  heads  to  the 
beam,  and  it  is,  therefore,  against  such  soft  cushions  that  the 
animals  push  to  advance  ;  and  thus  linked  together  for  life,  by 
this  sort  of  Siamese  band,  it  is  curious  to  observe  them  eating 
together,  then  by  agreement  raising  their  heads  to  swallow,  then 
acrain  standing  motionless,  chewing  the  cud,  which  is  seen  pass- 
m<T  and  repassing  from  tlie  stomach  to  the  mouth. 

At  first,  when,  standing  near  them,  I  smelt  from  their  breath 
the  sweet  fresh  milk,  it  seemed  hard  that  they  sliould  thus  be,  as  it 
w^ere,  domestic  candles,  lighted  at  both  ends  :  however,  verily  do 
I  believe  that  all  animals  prefer  exercise,  nay,  even  hard  work,  to 
any  sort  of  confinement,  and  if  so,  they  are  certainly  happier  than 
our  stall-fed  cows,  many  of  which,  in  certain  parts  of  Britain,  may 
be  seen  with  their  heads  fixed  economically  for  montlis  between 
two  vertical  beams  of  wood.  The  Nassau  cows  certainly  do  not 
seem  to  suffer  wliile  working  in  their  light  carts ;  as  soon  as  their 
mistress  advances  they  follow  her,  and  if  she  tuins  and  whips 


BUBBLES. 


them,  then  do  they  seem  to  hurry  after  her  more  eagerly  than 
ever. 

It  is  true  hard  labor  has  the  effect  of  impoverishing  their  milk, 
and  the  calf  at  home  is  consequently  (so  far  as  it  is  concerned)  a 
loser  by  the  bargain ;  however,  there  is  no  child  in  the  peasant's 
family  who  has  not  had  cause  to  make  the  same  complaint ;  and, 
therefore,  so  long  as  the  laborer's  wife  carries  her  infant  to  the 
harvest,  the  milch  cow  may  very  fairly  be  required  to  draw  to  the 
hovel  what  has  been  cut  by  her  hands. 

Nothing  can  be  better  adapted  to  the  features  of  the  country- 
nothing  can  better  accord  with  the  feeble  resources  of  its  inhabit- 
ants, than  the  equipment  of  these  economical  waggons  and  carts  : 
the  cows  and  oxen  can  ascend  any  of  the  hills,  or  descend  into  any 
of  the  valleys ;  they  can,  without  slipping,  go  sideways  along  the 
face  of  the  hills,  and  in  crossmg  the  green  swampy  grassy  ravines, 
I  particularly  remarked  the  advantage  of  the  light  waggon  drawn 
by  animals  with  cloven  feet,  for  had  one  of  our  heavy  teams 
attempted  the  passage,  like  a  set  of  flies  walking  across  a  plate  of 
treacle,  they  would  soon  have  become  unable  to  extricate  even 
themselves.  But  in  making  the  comparison  between  the  horse 
and  the  cow  (as  far  as  regards  Nassau  husbandry),  I  may  fur- 
ther observe,  that  the  former  has  a  very  expensive  appetite,  and 
wears  very  expensive  shoes ;  as  soon  as  he  becomes  lame  he  is 
useless,  and  as  soon  as  he  is  dead  he  is  carrion.  Now  a  placid, 
patient  Langen-Schwalbach  cow,  in  the  bloom  of  her  youth,  costs 
only  two  or  three  pounds  ;  she  requires  neither  corn  nor  shoeing  ; 
the  leaves  of  the  forest,  drawn  by  herself  to  the  village,  form  her 
bed,  which  in  due  time  she  carries  out  to  the  field  as  manure  :  there 
is  nothing  a  light  cart  can  carry  which  she  is  not  ready  to  fetch, 
and  from  her  work  she  cheerfully  returns  to  her  home  to  give 
milk,  cream,  butter,  and  cheese  to  the  establishment :  at  her  death 
she  is  still  worth  eleven  kreuzers  a  pound  as  beef;  and  when  her 
flesh  has  disappeared,  her  bones,  after  being  ground  at  the  mill, 
once  again  appear  upon  her  master's  fields,  to  cheer,  manure, 
and  enrich  them. 

As,  quite  in  love  with  cows,  I  was  returning  from  the  harvest, 
I  met  the  Nassau  letter-cart,  one  of  the  cheapest  carriages  for  its 
purpose  that  can  well  be  conceived.     It  consists  of  a  pair  of  high 


THE  HARVEST.  Sl> 


wheels  connected  by  a  short  axle,  upon  which  are  riveted  a  few 
boards  framed  together  in  the  form  of  a  small  shallow  box  ;  in 
this  little  coffin  the  letter-bag  is  buried,  and  upon  it,  like  a  monu- 
ment, sits  a  light  boy  dressed  in  the  uniform  of  a  Nassau  postilion, 
who,  with  a  trumpet  in  one  liand,  a  long  whip  in  the  other,  and 
the  reins  sporting  loose  under  his  feet,  starts  as  if  he  deliberately 
meant  mischief,  intending  to  get  well  over  his  ground  ;  and  there 
being  scarcely  any  weight  to  carry,  the  horse  really  might  pro- 
ceed  as  a  mail-coach  horse  ought  to  go  ;  but  that  horrible  Punch 
and  Judy  trumpet  upsets  the  whole  arrangement,  for  as  the  thing 
is  very  heavy,  the  child  soon  takes  tv,o  hands  to  it  instead  of  one, 
when  down  goes  the  whip,  and  from  that  moment  the  picture, 
which  promised  to  be  a  good  one,  is  spoilt. 

The  letter-bag  crawls,  like  a  reptile,  along  the  road,  while  the 
boy,  amusing  himself  with  his  plaything,  reminds  one  of  those 
'•'  nursery  rhymes"  which  say, 

And  with  rings  on  his  fingers,  and  bells  on  his  toes, 
We  shall  have  music  wherever  he  goes. 

It  is  quite  provoking  to  see  a  government  carriage  in  its  theory 
so  simply  imagined,  and  so  cleverly  adapted  to  its  purpose,  thus 
completely  ruined  in  its  practice.  Music  may  be,  and  indeed  is, 
very  delightful  in  its  way  ;  but  a  tune  is  one  thing — speed 
another ;  and  it  always  seems  to  me  a  pity  that  the  Duke  of 
Nassau  should  allow  these  two  substances  to  be  so  completely 
confounded  in  his  dominions. 

How  admirably  does  the  long  tin  horn  of  the  guard  of  one  of 
our  mail-coaches  perform  its  blunt  duty  ! — a  single  blast  is  suf- 
ficient to  remove  the  obstruction  of  an  old  gentleman  in  his  gig — 
two  are  generally  enough  for  a  heavy  cart — three  for  a  waggon 
— and  half-a-dozen,  slowly  and  sternly  applied,  are  always 
sufficient  to  awaken  even  the  snoring  keeper  of  a  turnpike-gate — 
in  short,  to 

Break  his  bands  of  sleep  asunder, 

And  rouse  him  like  a  rattling  peal  of  thunder. 

Hark  !  hark  !  the  horrid  sound 

Has  raised  up  his  head  as  awaked  from  the  dead 

And  amazed  he  stares  round  ! 


90  BUBBLES. 


The  gala  turn-out  of  our  mail-coaches  on  the  King's  birth-day, 
I  always  think  must  strike  foreigners  more  than  anything  else  in 
our  country  with  the  sterling  solid  integrity  of  the  English  char- 
acter. To  see  so  many  well-bred  horses  in  such  magnificent  con- 
dition— so  many  well-built  carriages — so  many  excellent  drivers, 
and  such  a  corps  of  steady,  quiet,  resolute-looking  men  as  guards, 
each  wearing,  as  well  as  every  coachman,  the  King's  own  livery 
— all  this  must  silently  point  out,  even  to  our  most  jealous  enemies, 
not  only  the  wealth  of  the  country,  but  the  firm  basis  on  which  it 
stands  ;  in  short,  it  must  prove  to  them  most  undeniably,  that  there 
is  no  one  thing  in  England  which,  tliroughout  the  land,  is  treated 
with  so  much  universal  attention  and  respect,  as  the  honest,  speedy, 
and  safe  delivery  of  the  letters  and  commercial  correspondence  of 
the  country.  Nevertheless,  if  our  English  coachmen  were  to  bo 
allowed,  instead  of  attending  to  their  horses,  to  play  on  trumpets 
as  they  proceeded,  we  should,  as  in  the  Duchy  of  Nassau,  soon 
pay  very  dearly  for  their  music. 


THE  SUNSET.  91 


THE  SUNSET. 


It  had  been  hot  all  day — the  roads  liad  been  dusty — the  ground, 
as  one  trod  upon  it,  liad  felt  warm — the  air  was  motionless — 
animal  as  well  as  vegetable  life  appeared  weak  and  exhausted — 
Nature  herself  seemed  parched  and  thirsty — the  people  on  the 
promenade,  as  it  got  hotter  and  hotter,  had  walked  slower  and 
slower,  until  they  were  now  crawling  along  as  unwillingly  as  if 
thev  had  been  marching  to  their  graves.  The  vrorld,  as  if  from 
apathy,  was  coming  to  a  stand-still — Langen-Schwalbach  itself 
appeared  to  be  fainting  away,  when  the  evening  sun,  having 
rested  for  a  moment  on  the  western  height,  gradually  vanished 
from  our  sight. 

His  red  tyrannical  rays  had  hardly  loft  our  pale  abject  faces, 
when  all  people  suddenly  revived  ;  like  a  herd  of  fawning  cour- 
tiers who  had  been  kept  trembling  before  their  king,  they  felt  that, 
left  to  themselves,  they  could  now  breathe,  and  think,  and  stamp 
their  feet.  Parasols,  one  after  another,  were  shut  up — the  pedes- 
trians on  the  promenade  freshened  their  pace — even  fat  patients 
who  had  long  been  at  anchor  on  the  benches,  began  to  show  symp- 
toms of  getting  under  way — every  leaf  seemed  suddenly  to  be 
enjoying  the  cool  gentle  breeze  which  was  now  felt  stealing  up 
the  valley  ;  until,  in  a  very  few  minutes,  everything  in  Nature 
was  restored  to  life  and  enjoyment. 

It  was  the  hour  for  returning  to  my  '•  Ilof,"  but  the  air  as  it 
blew  into  my  window  was  so  delightfully  refreshing,  and  so  irre- 
sistibly inviting,  that  I  and  my  broad-brimmed  hat  went  out  tetc-d- 
icte  to  enjoy  it.  As  we  passed  the  red  pond  of  iron  water,  op- 
posite to  the  great  "  Indian  Hof,"  which  comes  from  the  strong 
Stahl  brunnen,  having  nothing  to  do,  I  lingered  for  some  time 


92  BUBBLES. 


AvatcbinjT  the  horses  that  were  broucrht  there.  After  havino;  toiled 
through  the  excessive  heat  of  the  day,  any  water  would  have  been 
agreeable  to  them  ;  but  the  nice,  cool,  strengthening,  effervescing 
mixture  into  which  they  were  now  led,  seemed  to  be  so  exceed- 
ingly delightful,  that  they  were  scarcely  up  to  their  knees  before 
they  made  a  strong  attempt  to  drink ;  but  the  rule  being  that  they 
should  first  half  walk,  half  swim  two  or  three  times  round  the 
pond,  this  cleansing  or  ablution  was  no  sooner  over — the  reins 
were  no  sooner  loosened — when  down  went  their  heads  into  the 
red  cooling  pool  ;  and  one  had  then  only  to  look  at  the  horses'  eyes 
to  appreciate  their  enjoyment.  With  the  whole  of  their  mouths 
and  nostrils  immersed,  they  seemed  as  if  they  fancied  they  could 
drink  the  pond  dry ;  however,  the  greedy  force  with  which  they 
held  their  heads  down  gradually  relaxed,  until,  at  last,  up  they 
were  raised,  with  an  aspiration  which  seemed  to  say,  "  We  can 
hold  no  more  !"  In  about  ten  seconds,  however,  their  noses  again 
dropped  to  the  surface,  but  only  to  play  vv'ith  an  element  which 
seemed  novv-  to  be  useless — so  completely  had  one  single  draught 
altered  its  current  value  !  As  I  stood  at  the  edge  of  this  pond, 
leaning  over  the  rail,  mentally  participating  with  the  horses  in  the 
luxury  they  were  enjoying,  a  violent  shower  of  rain  came  on  ; 
yet,  before  I  had  hurried  fifty  yards  for  an  umbrella,  it  had  ceased. 
These  little  showers  are  exceedingly  common  amongst  the  hills 
of  Nassau  in  the  evenings  of  very  hot  days.  From  the  power  of 
the  sun,  the  valleys  during  the  day  are  filled  brim-full  with  a 
steam,  or  exhalation,  vv-hich  no  sooner  loses  its  parent,  the  sun. 
than  the  cold  condenses  it ;  and,  then,  like  the  tear  on  the  cheek 
of  a  child  that  has  suddenly  missed  its  mother,  down  it  falls  in 
heavy  drops,  and  the  next  instant — smiles  again. 

As  the  air  was  very  agreeable,  I  wandered  up  the  hilly  road 
which  leads  to  Bad-Ems  ;  and  then,  strolling  into  a  field  of  corn, 
which  had  been  just  cut,  I  continued  to  climb  the  m.ountain,  until, 
turning  round,  I  found,  as  I  expected,  that  I  had  attained  just  the 
sort  of  view  I  wanted  ;  but  it  would  be  impossible  to  describe  to 
the  reader  the  freshness  of  the  scene.  Beneath  was  the  long 
scrambling  village  of  Langen-Schwalbach,  the  slates  of  which 
absolutely  blooming  from  the  shower  they  had  just  received,  looked 
so  very  clean  and  fresh,  that  for  some  time  my  eyes  quite  enjoyed 


THE  SUNSET. 


rambling  from  one  roof  to  the  next,  and  then  glancing  from  one 

extremity  of  the  town  to  the  other ;  they  had  been  looking  at 
hot  dazzling  objects  all  day — I  thought  I  never  should  be  able  to 
raise  them  from  the  cool  blue  wet  slates.  However,  as  the  light 
rapidly  faded,  the  landscape  itself  soon  became  equally  refreshing, 
for  the  dry  parched  corn-fields  assumed  a  richer  hue,  the  green 
crops  seemed  bending  under  dew,  and  the  whole  picture,  hills, 
town,  and  all,  appeared  so  newly  painted,  that  the  colors  from 
Nature's  brush  were  too  fresh  to  be  dry.  All  of  a  sudden,  majes- 
tically rolling  up  the  valley,  was  seen  a  misty  vapor,  which  at 
last  reaching  the  houses,  rolled  from  roof  to  roof,  until  it  liovered 
over,  or  ratlier  rested  upon,  the  whole  town  ;  and  this  was  no 
sooner  the  case  than  the  slates  seemed  all  to  have  vanished  ! 

In  vain  I  looked  for  them,  for  the  cloud,  exactly  matching  them 
in  color,  had  so  completely  disguised  them,  that  they  formed 
nothing  now  but  the  base  or  foundation  of  the  misty  fabric  which 
rested  upon  them.  Instead  of  a  blue  village,  Langen-Schwal- 
bach  now  appeared  to  be  a  white  one  ;  for,  the  roofs  no  longer 
attracting  attention,  the  shining  walls  burst  into  notice,  and  a  ser- 
pentine line  of  glistening  patches,  nearly  resembling  a  ridge  of 
snow,  clearly  marked  out  the  shape  and  limits  of  the  town ;  but 
as,  in  this  elevated  country,  there  is  little  or  no  twilight,  the  fea- 
tures of  the  picture  again  rapidly  faded,  until  even  this  white  line 
was  hardly  to  be  seen ;  corn-fields  could  now  scarcely  be  distin- 
guished from  greeii  crops — all  became  dark — and  the  large  forest 
on  the  south  hills,  as  well  as  the  small  woods  which  are  scattered 
on  the  heights,  had  so  completely  lost  their  color,  that  they  ap- 
peared to  be  immense  black  pits  or  holes.  In  a  short  time  every- 
thing beneath  me  was  lost ;  and  sitting  on  the  gound,  loaning 
against  seven  sheafs  of  corn  piled  up  together,  I  was  enjoying  the 
sublime  serenity,  the  mysterious  uncertainty  of  the  scene  before 
me,  when  another  very  beautiful  change  took  place  ! 

I  believe  I  have  already  told  the  reader  that,  besides  m.yself. 
there  were  about  1200  strangers  in  the  little  village  of  Langen- 
Schwalbach.  Of  course  every  Hof  was  fully  inhabited,  and,  as 
soon  as  darkness  prevailed,  the  effect  produced  by  each  house 
being  suddenly  and  almost  simultaneously  lighted  up,  was  really 
quite  romantic.     In  every  direction,  .sometimes  at  the  top  of  one 


94  BUBBLES. 


Hof,  then  at  the  bottom  of  another,  lights  burst  into  existence — 
the  eye  attracted,  eagerly  flew  from  one  to  another,  until,  from 
the  number  which  burst  into  life,  it  became  quite  impossible  to 
attend  to  each.  The  bottom  of  the  valley,  like  the  dancing  of 
fire-flies,  was  sparkling  in  the  most  irregular  succession  ;  till,  in 
a  short  time,  this  fantastic  confusion  vanished,  and  every  room 
(there  being  no  shutters)  having  its  light,  Langen-Schwalbach 
was  once  again  restored  to  view — each  house,  and  every  story  of 
each  house,  being  now  clearly  defined  by  a  regular  and  very 
pleasing  illumination ;  and  while,  seated  in  utter  darkness,  I  gazed 
at  the  gay  sparkling  scene  before  me,  I  could  not  help  feeling  that, 
of  all  the  beautiful  contrasts  in  Nature,  there  can  be  no  one  more 
vivid  than  the  sudden  change  between  darkness  and  light.  How 
weary  we  should  be  of  eternal  sunshine  ! — hovr  gloomy  would  it 
be  to  grope  through  one's  life  in  utter  darkness  !  and  yet  what 
loveliness  do  each  of  these,  by  contrast,  impart  to  the  other  !  On 
the  heights  above  the  village,  hov/  magnificent  was  the  darkness 
after  a  hot  sun-shining  day  ;  and  then,  again,  how  lovely  was  the 
twinkling  even  of  tallow  candles,  when  they  suddenly  burst  upon 
this  darkness  !  Yet  it  is  with  these  two  ingredients  that  Nature 
works  up  all  her  pictures  ;  and,  as  Paganini's  tunes  all  come 
out  of  two  strings  of  cat-gut,  and  two  of  the  entrails  of  a  kitten, 
so  do  all  the  varieties  which  please  our  eyes  proceed  from  a  mix- 
ture in  different  proportions  of  light  and  shade ;  and  indeed,  in 
the  moral  world,  it  is  the  chiaro-oscuro,  the  brightness  and  dark- 
ness of  which  alone  form  the  happiness  of  our  existence.  AVhat 
would  prosperity  be,  if  there  was  no  such  sorrow  as  adversity  ? 
vv-hat  ^\  ould  health  be,  if  sickness  did  not  exist  ?  and  what  would 
be  the  smile  of  an  approving  conscience,  if  there  was  not  the 
torment  of  repentance  writhing  under  guilt  ?  But  I  will  perse- 
cute the  reader  no  longer  with  the  reflections  which  occurred  to 
me,  as  I  sat  in  a  wheat-field,  gazing  on  the  lights  of  Langen- 
Schwalbach.  Good  or  bad,  they  managed  to  please  me ;  how- 
ever,  after  remaining  in  darkness,  till  it  became  much  colder  than 
was  agreeable,  I  wandered  back  to  my  Hof,  entered  my  dormito- 
ry, and  my  grey  iiead  having  tliere  found  its  pillow,  as  I  extin- 
guished my  candle,  I  mumbled  to  mys.- If — '•  There  goes  one  of  the 
tallow  stars  of  Lanf^en-Schwalbach  I — Sic  transit  gloria  mundi  !"' 


THE  SUNSET.  95 


I  was  lying  prostrate,  still  awake — and  (there  being  no  sliutters 
to  the  window  at  the  foot  of"  the  bed)  I  was  looking  at  some  oddly- 
shaped,  tall,  acute-angicd,  slated  roofs,  glistening  in  the  light  of 
the  round  full  moon,  which  was  hanging  immediately  above 
ti^.em.  The  scene  was  delightfully  silent  and  serene.  Occasion- 
ally I  faintly  heard  a  distant  footstep  approaching,  until  treading 
lieavily  under  the  window,  its  sound  gradually  diminished,  and 
all  again  was  silent.  Sometimes  a  cloud  passing  slowly  across 
tiie  moon  would  veil  the  roofs  in  darkness ;  and  then,  again,  they 
would  suddenly  burst  upon  the  eye,  in  silvery  light,  shining 
brighter  than  ever.  As,  somewhat  fatigued,  I  lay  half  enjoying 
this  scene,  and  half  dozing,  I  suddenly  heard,  apparently  close  to 
me,  the  scream  of  a  woman,  v.hich  really  quite  electrified  me  ! 

On  listening,  it  was  repeated,  when  jumping  out  of  bed  and 
opening  the  door,  I  heard  it  again  proceeding  from  a  room  at  the 
distant  end  of  the  passage  ;  and  such  was  the  violence  of  its 
tone,  that  my  impression  was — "the  lady's  room  is  on  fire  !" 

There  is  something  in  the  piercing  shriek  of  a  woman  in  dis- 
tress which  produces  an  irresistible  effect  on  the  featherless 
biped,  called  man  ;  and,  in  rushing  to  her  assistance,  he  performs 
no  duty — he  exercises  no  virtue — but  merely  obeys  an  instinctive 
impulse  which  has  been  benevolently  imparted  to  him — not  for 
his  own  good,  but  for  the  safety  and  protection  of  a  weaker  and 
a  better  sex. 

But  although  this  feeling  exists  so  powerfully  "  chez  nous," 
yet  it  has  not  by  nature  been  imparted  to  commonplace  garments  ; 
such  as  coats,  black-figured  waistcoats,  rusty  knee-breeches,  nor 
even  to  easy  shoes,  blue-worsted  stockings  or  such  like ;  and, 
therefore,  while,  by  an  irresistible  attraction  which  1  could  not 
possibly  counteract,  obeying  the  mysterious  impulse  of  my 
nature,  I  rushed  along  the  passage,  these  base  unchivalric  gar- 
ments remained  coldly  dangling  over  the  back  of  a  chair  :  in 
short,  I  followed  the  laws  of  my  nature — they,  theirs. 

With  some  difficulty,  having  succeeded  in  bursting  open  the 
door  just  as  a  fifth  shriek  was  repeated,  I  rushed  in,  and  tliere, 
sitting  up  in  her  bed — her  soft  arms  most  anxiously  extended 
towards  me — her  countenance  expressing  an  agony  of  fear — sat 


96  BUBBLES. 


a  young  lady,  by  no  means  ill-favored,  and  aged  (as  nearly  as  I 
could  hastily  calculate)  about  twenty-one  ! 

Almost  in  hysterics,  she  began  in  German,  to  tell  a  long  inco- 
herent  story ;  and  though,  with  calm  natural  dignity,  I  did  what 
I  could  to  quiet  her,  the  tears  rushed  into  her  eyes — she  then 
almost  in  convulsions  began,  with  her  hands  under  the  bed-clothes, 
to  scratch  her  knees,  then  shrieked  again ;  and  I  do  confess  that 
I  was  altogether  at  a  loss  to  conceive  what  in  the  sacred  name  of 
virtue  could  be  the  matter  with  the  young  lady,  when,  by  her 
repeating  several  times  the  word  "  Rattv^n  !  Ratten !"  I  at  once 
comprehended  that  there  were  (or  that  the  amiable  young  person 
fancied  that  there  were) — rats  in  her  led  ! 

The  dog  Billy,  as  well  as  many  puppies  of  less  name,  would 
instantly,  perhaps,  have  commenced  a  vigorous  attack  ;  rats,  how- 
ever, are  reptiles  I  am  not  in  the  habit  either  of  hunting  or  de- 
stroying. 

The  young  lady's  aunt,  an  elderly  personage,  now  appeared  at 
the  door,  in  her  night-clothes,  as  yellow  and  as  sallow  as  if  she 
had  just  risen  from  the  grave  ; — peeping  over  her  shoulder,  stood 
our  landlady's  blooming  daughter  in  her  bed-gown — Leonhard, 
the  son,  cum  riiultis  aliis.  What  they  could  all  have  thought  of 
the  scene,  what  they  could  have  thought  of  my  strange,  gaunt, 
unadorned  appearance — what  they  could  have  thought  of  the 
niece's  screams — and  what  they  would  have  thought  had  I  deigned 
to  tell  them  I  had  come  to  her  bedside  merely  to  catch  rats — it 
was  out  of  my  power  to  divine :  however,  the  fact  was,  I  cared 
not  a  straw  what  they  thought ;  but,  seeing  that  my  presence 
was  not  requisite,  I  gravely  left  the  poor  innocent  sufferer  to  tell 
her  own  story.  '•  Ratten  !  Ratten  !"  was  its  theme  ;  and  long 
before  her  fears  subsided,  my  mind,  as  well  as  its  frail  body, 
were  placidly  entranced  in  sleep. 


THE  CROSS  OF  ST.  JOHN  OF  JERUSALEM.  97 


THE  CROSS  OF  ST.  JOHN  OF  JERUSALEM, 


To  an  old  man,  one  of  the  most  delightful  features  in  a  German 
watering-place,  is  the  ease  with  which  he  can  associate,  in  the 
most  friendly  manner,  with  all  his  brother  and  sister  water-bibbers, 
without  the  fatigue  of  speaking  one  single  word. 

Almost  every  glass  of  water  you  get  from  the  brunnen  adds,  at 
least,  one  to  the  list  of  your  acquaintance.  Merely  touching  a 
man's  elbow  is  sufficient  to  procure  from  him  a  look  of  good- 
fellowship,  which,  though  it  does  not  inconveniently  grow  into  a 
bow,  or  even  into  a  smile,  is  yet  always  afterwards  displayed  in 
liis  physiognomy  whenever  it  meets  yours.  If,  as  you  are  stretch- 
ing out  your  glass,  you  retire  but  half  a  stride,  to  allow  a  thirsting 
lady  to  step  forward,  you  clearly  see,  whensoever  you  afterwards 
meet  her,  that  the  slight  attention  is  indelibly  recorded  in  your 
favor.  Even  running  against  a  German  produces,  as  it  were  by 
collision,  a  spark  of  kind  feeling,  which,  like  a  star  in  the  heavens, 
twinkles  in  his  serene  countenance  whenever  you  behold  it. 
Smile  only  once  upon  a  group  of  children,  and  the  Uttle  urchins 
bite  their  lips,  vainly  repressing  their  joy  whenever  afterwards 
you  meet  them. 

Shrouded  in  this  delightful  taciturnity,  my  list  of  acquaintances 
at  Langen-Schwalbach  daily  increased,  until  I  found  myself  on 
just  the  sort  of  amicable  terms  with  almost  everybody,  which,  to 
my  present  taste,  is  the  most  agreeable.  In  early  life  young 
people  (if  I  recollect  right)  are  never  quite  happy,  unless  they  are 
either  talking,  or  writing  letters  to  their  fellow-creatures.  When- 
ever, even  as  strangers,  they  get  together,  everything  that  hap- 
pens or  passes  seems  to  engender  words — even  when  they  have 
parted,  there  is  no  end  to  epistolary  valedictions,  and  creation 
itself  loses  half  its  charms,  unless  the  young  beholder  has  some 
8 


98  BUBBLES. 


companion  with  whom  the  loveliness  of  the  picture  may  be  shared 
and  enjoyed. 

But  old  age  I  fmd  stiffens,  first  of  all,  the  muscles  of  the  tongue  ; 
indeed,  as  man  gradually  decays,  it  seems  wisely  provided  by 
Nature  that  he  should  be  willing  to  be  dumb,  before  time  sentences 
him  to  be  deaf:  in  short,  the  mind,  however  voraciously  it  might 
once  have  searched  for  food,  at  last  instinctively  prefers  rumina- 
tion, to  seeking  for  more. 

By  young  people  I  shall  be  thought  selfish,  yet  I  do  confess 
that  I  enjoy  silence,  because  my  own  notions  now  suit  me  best ; 
other  people's  opinions,  like  their  shoes,  don't  fit  me,  and  however 
ill -constructed  or  old-fashioned  my  own  may  really  be,  yet  use 
has  made  them  easy :  my  sentiments,  ugly  as  they  may  seem, 
don't  pinch,  and  I  therefore  feel  I  had  rather  not  exchange  them  ; 
the  one  or  two  friends  I  have  lost  rank  in  my  memory  better  than 
any  I  can  ever  hope  to  gain  :  in  fact,  I  had  rather  not  replace 
them,  and  at  Langen-Schwalbach,  as  there  was  no  necessity  for  a 
passing  stranger  like  myself  to  set  up  a  new  acquaintance  with 
people  he  would  probably  never  see  again,  I  considered  that,  with 
my  eyes  and  ears  open,  my  tongue  might  harmlessly  enjoy  natural 
and  delightful  repose. 

But  there  is  a  perverseness  in  human  nature,  which  it  is  quite 
out  of  my  power  to  account  for  ;  and  strange  as  it  may  sound,  it 
is  nevertheless  too  true,  that  the  only  person  at  Langen-Schwal- 
bach I  felt  desirous  to  address,  was  the  only  individual  who  seem- 
ed to  shun  every  human  being. 

He  was  a  withered,  infirm  man,  who  appeared  to  be  tottering 
on  the  brink  of  his  grave ;  and  I  had  long  remarked  that,  for 
some  reason  or  other,  he  studiously  avoided  the  brunnen  until 
every  person  had  left  it.  He  spoke  to  no  one — looked  at  no  one 
— but  as  soon  as  he  had  swallowed  off  his  dose,  he  retired  to  a 
lone  bench,  on  which,  with  both  hands  leaning  upon  his  ivory- 
handled  cane,  he  was  always  to  be  seen  sitting  with  his  eye 
sorrowfully  fixed  on  the  ground.  Although  the  weather  was,  to 
every  person  but  himself,  oppressively  hot,  he  was  constantly 
muffled  up  in  a  thick  cloak,  and  I  think  I  must  have  passed  him 
a  hundred  times  before  I  detected,  one  exceedingly  warm  day,  that, 
underneath  it,  there  hung  upon  his  left  breast  the  Cross  of  the 


THE  CROSS  OF  ST.  JOHN  OF  JERUSALEM.  09 

Order  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem.  As,  ages  ago,  I  had  myself 
passed  many  a  hot  summer  on  the  parched,  barren  rock  of  Malta, 
— always,  however,  feeling  much  interested  in  the  history  of  its 
banished  knights, — I  at  once  fully  comprehended  why  the  poor 
old  gentleman's  body  was  so  chilly,  and  why  his  heart  felt  so 
chilled  with  the  world.  By  many  slow  and  scientific  approaches, 
which  it  Avould  be  only  tedious  to  detail,  I  at  last  managed,  with- 
out driving  him  from  his  bench,  most  quietly  to  establish  myself 
at  his  side,  and  then  by  coughing  when  he  coughed, — sighing 
when  he  sighed, — and  by  other  (I  hope  innocent)  artifices,  I  at 
last  ventured  in  a  sotto  voce  to  mumble  to  him  something  about 
the  distant  island  in  which  apparently  all  his  youthful  feelings  lay- 
buried.  The  words  Valetta,  Civita  Yecchia,  Floriana,  Cottonera, 
&c.,  as  I  pronounced  them,  produced,  by  a  sort  of  galvanic  influence, 
groans — ejaculations — short  sentences,  until  at  last  he  began  to 
show  me  frankly  without  disguise  the  real  color  of  his  mind. 
Poor  man !  like  his  eye  it  was  jaundiced — "  nullis  medicabilis 
herbis  !"  I  could  not  at  all  extract  from  him  what  rank,  title,  or 
situation  he  held  in  the  ancient  order,  but  I  could  too  clearly  see 
that  he  looked  upon  its  extinction  as  the  Persian  would  look  upon 
the  annihilation  of  the  sun.  Creation  he  fancied  had  been  robbed 
of  its  colors, — Christianity  he  thought  had  lost  its  heart,  and  he 
attributed  every  political  ailment  on  the  surface  of  the  globe  to 
the  non-existence  of  the  Knights  Hospitallers  of  St.  John  at  Jeru- 
salem ! 

For  several  hours  I  patiently  listened  to  his  unhappy  tale ;  for 
as  lamentations  of  all  sorts  are  better  out  of  the  human  heart  than 
in  it,  I  felt  that  as  the  vein  was  open,  my  patient  could  not  be 
encouraged  to  bleed  too  freely  :  without  therefore  once  contra- 
dicting him,  I  allowed  his  feelings  to  flow  uninterrupted,  and  by 
the  time  he  had  pumped  himself  quite  dry,  I  was  happy  to  observe 
that  he  was  certainly  much  better  for  the  operation.  On  leaving 
him,  however,  my  own  pent-up  view  of  the  case,  and  his,  continued 
for  the  remainder  of  the  day  bubbling  and  quarrelling  with  each 
other  in  my  mind.  Therefore,  to  satisfy  myself  before  I  went  to 
bed,  I  drew  out  in  black  and  white  the  following  sketch  of  what 
has  always  appeared  to  me  to  be  a  fair,  impartial  history  of  these 
— Knights  of  Malta. 


100  BUBBLES. 


The  Mediterranean  forms  a  curious  and  beautiful  feature  in  the 
picture  of  the  commercial  world.  By  dint  of  money  and  shipping 
we  laboriously  bring  to  England  the  produce  of  the  most  distant 
regions,  but  the  commerce  of  the  whole  globe  seems  to  have  a 
natural  or  instinctive  tendency  to  flow,  almost  of  its  own  accord, 
into  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  Beginning  with  the  great  Atlantic 
Ocean,  which  connects  the  old  world  with  the  new,  we  know  that, 
over  that  vast  expanse,  the  prevailing  wind  is  one  which  blows  from 
America  towards  Europe ;  and,  moreover,  that  the  waters  of  the 
Atlantic  are,  without  any  apparent  return,  everlastingly  flowing 
into  the  narrow  straits  of  Gibraltar.  When  the  produce  of 
America,  therefore,  is  shipping  for  the  Mediterranean,  in  general 
terms  it  may  be  asserted  that  wind  and  tide  are  in  its  favor. 

Across  the  trackless  deserts  of  Africa  caravans  from  various 
parts  of  the  interior  are  constantly  toiling  through  the  deep  sand 
towards  the  waters  of  this  inland  sea.  The  traveller  who  goes 
up  the  Nile  is  doomed,  we  all  know,  to  stem  its  torrent,  but  the 
produce  of  Egypt  and  the  tripie  harvest  of  that  luxuriant  land  is 
no  sooner  embarked,  than  of  its  own  accord  it  glides  majestically 
towards  this  favored  sea  ;  and  there  is  truth  and  nothing  specula- 
tive in  still  further  remarking,  that  this  very  harvest  is  absolutely 
produced  by  the  slime  or  earth  of  Abyssinian  and  other  most 
remote  mountains,  which  by  the  laws  of  nature  has  calmly  floated 
1200  miles  through  a  desert  to  top-dress  or  manure  Egypt,  that 
garden  which  eventually  supplies  so  many  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  Mediterranean  with  corn. 

Again,  the  Red  Sea  is  a  passage  apparently  created  to  connect 
Europe  with  the  great  Eastern  world  :  and  as  the  power  of  steam 
gradually  increases  in  its  stride,  it  is  evident  that  by  this  gulf,  or 
natural  canal,  much  of  the  produce  of  India  eventually  will  easily 
flow  into  the  Mediterranean  Sea. 

Finally,  it  might  likewise  be  shown,  that  much  of  the  commerce 
of  Asia  Minor  and  Europe,  either  by  great  rivers  or  otherwise, 
naturally  moves  towards  this  central  point :  but  besides  these 
sources  of  external  wealth,  the  Mediterranean,  as  we  all  know,  is 
most  romantically  studded  with  an  archipelago  and  other  beauti- 
ful islands,  the  inhabitants  of  which  have  the  power  not  only  of 
trading  on  a  large  scale  with  every  quarter  of  the  globe,  but  of 


THE  CROSS  OF  ST.  JOHN  OF  JERUSALEM.  101 

cam'ing  on  in  small  open  boats  a  sort  of  little  village  commerce 
of  their  own.  Among  the  inhabitants  of  this  sea  are  to  be  found 
at  this  moment  the  handsomest  specimens  of  the  human  race ;  and 
if  a  person  not  satisfied  with  the  present  and  future  tenses  of  life, 
should  prefer  reflecting  or  rather  ruminating  on  the  past,  with 
antiquarian  rapture  he  may  wander  over  these  waters  from  Car- 
thage to  Egypt,  Tyre,  Sidon,  Rhodes,  Troy,  Ephesus,  Athens, 
Corinth,  Argos,  Syracuse,  Rome,  &c.,  until,  tired  of  this  flight, 
he  may  rest  on  one  of  the  ocean  beaten  pillars  of  Hercules — and 
seated  there,  he  may  most  truly  declare  that  the  history  of  the 
Mediterranean  is  like  the  picture  of  its  own  waves  beneath  him, 
which  one  after  another  he  sees  to  rise,  break,  and  sink. 

In  the  history  of  this  little  sea,  in  what  melancholy  succession 
has  nation  and  empire  risen  and  fallen,  flourished  and  decayed  ; 
and  if  the  magnificent  architectural  ruins  of  these  departed  states 
mournfully  offer  to  the  traveller  any  political  moral  at  all,  is  it 
not  that  homely  one  which  the  most  common  tombstone  of  our 
country  church-yard  preaches  to  the  rustic  peasant  who  reads  it  ? 

"  As  I  am  now,  so  you  will-be, 
Therefore  prepare  to  follow  me  '" 

However,  fully  admitting  the  truth  of  the  lesson  which  history 
and  experience  thus  offer  to  us — admitting  that  no  one  can  pre- 
sume to  declare  which  of  the  great  Mediterranean  powers  is 
doomed  to  be  the  next  to  suffer — or  what  new  point  is  next  to 
burst  into  importance  ;  yet,  if  a  man  were  forced  to  select  a 
position  which,  in  spite  of  fate  or  fortune,  feuds  or  animosities, 
has  been,  and  ever  must  be,  the  nucleus  of  commerce,  he  would 
find  that  in  the  Mediterranean  Sea  that  point,  as  nearly  as  pos- 
sible, would  be  the  little  island  of  Malta  ;  and  that  the  political 
importance  of  this  possession  being  now  generally  appreciated,  it 
is  curious  rapidly  to  run  over  the  string  of  little  events  which 
have  gradually  prepared,  fortified,  and  delivered  this  valuable 
arsenal  and  fortress  to  the  British  flag. 

In  the  early  ages  of  navigation,  when  men  hardly  dared  to  lose 
sight  of  the  shore,  ignorantly  trembling  if  they  were  not  abso- 
lutely hugging  the  very  danger  which  we  now  most  strenuously 
avoid,   it  may   be  easily  conceived  that  a  little  barren  island. 


102  BUBBLES. 


scarcely  twenty  miles  in  length  or  twelve  in  breadth,  was  of  little 
use  or  importance.  It  is  true  that  on  its  north  coast  there  was  a 
spit  or  narrow  tongue  of  land  (about  a  mile  in  length  and  a  few 
hundred  yards  in  breadth),  on  each  side  of  which  were  a  series 
of  connected  bays,  now  forming  two  of  the  most  magnificent  har- 
bors in  the  world  ;  but  in  the  ages  of  which  we  speak  this  great 
outline  was  a  nautical  hieroglyphic  which  sailors  could  not  deci- 
pher. Accustomed  to  hide  their  Lilliputian  vessels  and  fleets  in 
bays  and  creeks  on  the  same  petty  scale  as  themselves,  they  did 
not  comprehend  or  appreciate  the  importance  of  these  immense 
Brobdignag  recesses,  nor  did  they  admire  the  great  depth  of  wa- 
ter which  they  contained  ;  and  as  in  ancient  warfare,  when  war- 
riors used  javelins,  arrows  and  stones,  scalding  each  other  with 
hot  sand,  the  value  of  a  position  adapted  to  the  present  ranges  of 
our  shot  and  shells  would  not  have  been  understood,  in  like  man- 
ner was  the  importance  of  so  large  a  harbor  equally  impercepti- 
ble ;  and  that  Malta  could  have  had  no  very  great  reputation  is 
proved  by  the  fact,  that  it  is  even  to  this  day  among  the  learned 
a  subject  of  dispute,  whether  it  was  upon  this  island,  or  upon 
Melita  in  the  Adriatic,  that  St.  Paul  was  shipwrecked.  Now  if 
either  had  been  held  in  any  particular  estimation,  the  question  of 
the  shipwreck  would  not  now  be  any  subject  of  doubt. 

As  navigators  became  more  daring,  and  as  their  vessels,  in- 
creasing in  size,  required  more  water  and  provisions,  &c.,  Malta 
fell  into  the  hands  of  various  masters.  At  last,  when  Charles  V. 
conquered  Sicily  and  Naples,  he  offered  it  to  those  warriors  of 
Christendom,  those  determined  enemies  of  the  Turks  and  Corsairs 
— the  Knights  Hospitallers  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem.  This  sin- 
gular band  of  men,  distinguished  by  their  piebald  vow  of  heroism 
and  celibacy,  had,  after  a  most  courageous  resistance,  been  just 
overpowered  by  an  army  of  300,000  Saracens,  who,  under  Soly- 
man  II.,  had  driven  them  from  the  Island  of  Rhodes,  which  had 
been  occupied  by  their  order  213  years.  Animated  by  the  most 
noble  blood  of  Europe  which  flowed  in  their  veins — thirsting  for 
revenge — yet  homeless  and  destitute;  it  may  easily  be  conceived 
that  these  brave,  enthusiastic  men  would  most  readily  have  ac- 
cepted any  spot  on  which  they  could  once  again  establish  their 
busy  hive  :  yet  so  little  was  the  importance  of  Malta,  even  at 


THE  CROSS  OF  ST.  JOHN  OF  JERUSALEM.  103 

that  time,  understood,  so  arid  was  its  surface,  and  so  burning  was 
its  rock,  that,  after  minutely  surveying  it,  their  commissioners 
made  a  report  to  Charles  V.,  which  must  ever  be  regarded  as  a 
most  affecting  document ;  for  although  the  Knights  of  Malta  were 
certainly  in  their  day  "  the  bravest  of  the  brave,"  although,  by 
that  chivalric*oath  which  had  bound  them  together,  they  had  de- 
liberately sworn  "never  to  count  the  niaiiber  of  their  eiiemies,^'  yet 
after  the  strong,  proud  position  whicli  they  had  held  at  Rhodes,  it 
was  only  hard  fate  and  stern  necessity  that  could  force  them  to 
seek  refuge  on  a  rock  upon  which  there  was  scarcely  soil  enough 
to  plant  their  standard.  But  though  honor  has  been  justly  term- 
ed "  an  empty  bauble,"  yet  to  all  men's  eyes  its  colors  are  so 
very  beautiful,  that  they  allure  and  encourage  us  to  contend  with 
difficulties  which  no  other  advocate  could  persuade  us  to  encoun- 
ter ;  and  so  it  was  that  the  Knights  of  Malta,  seeing  they  had  no 
alternative,  sternly  accepted  the  hot  barren  home  that  was  offered 
to  them,  and  in  the  very  teeth,  and  before  the  beard  of  their  bar- 
barous enemy,  these  lions  of  the  Cross  landed  and  established 
themselves  in  their  new  den. 

When  men  have  once  made  up  their  minds  to  stand  against  ad- 
versity,  the  scene  generally  brightens,  for  danger,  contrary  to  the 
rules  of  drawing,  is  less  in  the  foreground  than  in  the  perspective 
—difficulties  of  all  sorts  being  magnified  by  the  misty  space 
which  separates  us  from  them  ;  and  accordingly  the  knights 
were  no  sooner  established  at  Malta,  than  they  began  to  find  out 
the  singular  advantages  it  possessed. 

The  whole  island  being  a  rock  of  freestone,  which  could  be 
worked  with  peculiar  facility,  materials  for  building  palaces  and 
houses,  suited  to  the  dignity  of  the  Order,  existed  everywhere  on 
the  spot ;  and  it  moreover  became  evident,  that  by  merely  quar- 
rying out  the  rock,  according  to  the  rules  of  military  science, 
they  would  not  only  obtain  materials  for  building,  but  that,  in  fact, 
the  more  they  excavated  for  the  town,  the  deeper  would  be  the 
ditch  of  its  fortress.  Animated  by  this  double  reward,  the 
knights  commenced  their  operations,  or,  in  military  language, 
they  "  broke  ground ;"  and,  without  detailing  how  often  the  rising 
fortress  was  jealously  attacked  by  their  barbarous  and  relentless 
enemies,  or  how  often  its  half-raised  walls  were  victoriously  ce- 


104  BUBBLES. 


mented  with  the  blood  of  Christians  and  of  Turks,  it  will  be  suf- 
ficient merely  to  observe,  that  before  the  island  had  been  in  pos- 
session of  the  Order  one  century,  it  assumed  very  nearly  the 
same  astonishing  appearance  which  it  now  affords — a  picture  and 
an  example,  proving  to  the  whole  world  what  can  be  done  by 
courage,  firmness,  and  perseverance. 

The  narrow  spit  or  tongue  of  barren  rock  which  on  the  north 
side  of  the  island  separated  the  two  great  harbors,  was  scarped 
in  every  part,  so  as  to  render  it  inaccessible  by  sea,  and  on  the 
isthmus,  or  only  side  on  which  it  could  be  approached  by  land, 
demi-lunes,  ravelins,  counter-guards,  bastions,  and  cavaliers,  were 
seen  towering  one  above  another,  on  so  gigantic  a  scale,  that,  as 
a  single  datum,  it  may  be  stated,  that  the  wall  of  the  escarp  is 
from  130  to  150  feet  in  height,  being  nearly  five  times  the 
height  of  that  of  a  regular  fortress.  On  this  narrow  tongue  of 
land,  thus  fortified,  arose  the  city  of  Valetta,  containing  a  palace 
for  its  Grand  Master,  and  almost  equally  magnificent  I'esidences 
for  its  knights,  the  whole  forming  at  this  day  one  of  the  finest 
cities  in  the  world.  On  every  projecting  point  oi"  the  various 
beautiful  bays  contained  in  each  of  the  two  great  harbors,  sepa- 
rated from  each  other  by  the  town  of  Valetta,  forts  were  built 
flanking  each  other,  yet  all  offering  a  concentrating  fire  upon  any 
and  every  part  of  the  port ;  and  when  a  vessel  laboring,  heaving, 
pitching  and  tossing,  in  a  heavy  gale  of  wind,  now  suddenly  en- 
ters the  great  harbor  of  Malta,  the  sudden  lull — ^the  unexpected 
calm — the  peaceful  stillness  which  prevails  on  its  deep  unruffled 
surface,  is  most  strangely  contrasted  in  the  mind  of  the  stranger 
with  the  innumerable  guns  which,  bristling  in  every  direction 
from  batteries  one  above  another,  seem  fearfully  to  announce  to 
him  that  he  is  in  the  chamber  of  death — in  a  slaughter-house 
from  which  there  is  no  escape,  and  that,  if  he  should  dare  to  offer 
insult,  although  he  had  just  escaped  from  the  raging  of  the  ele- 
ments, the  silence  around  him  is  that  of  the  grave ! 

It  was  from  the  city  and  harbor  of  Valetta,  in  the  state  above 
described,— it  was  from  this  proud  citadel  of  Christianity,  that  the 
Knights  of  Malta  continued  for  some  time  sallying  forth  to  carry 
on  their  uncompromising  hostility  against  the  Turks,  and  against 
the  corsairs  of  Algiers  and  Tripoli ;  but  the  brilliant  victories 


THE  CROSS  OF  ST.  JOHN  OF  JERUSALEM.      105 

they  gained,  and  the  bloody  losses  they  sustamed,  must  be  passed 
over,  as  it  is  already  time  to  hurry  their  history  to  a  close. 

The  fact  is,  the  Knights  Hospitallers  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem 
gradually  outlived  the  passions  and  objects  which  called  them  into 
existence,  and  their  Order  decayed  for  want  of  that  nourishment 
which,  during  so  many  ages,  it  received  from  the  sympathy, 
countenance,  and  applause  of  Christendom.  In  short,  as  mankind 
had  advanced  in  civilisation,  its  angry,  savage,  intolerant  passions 
had  gradually  subsided,  and  thus  the  importance  of  the  Order 
unavoidably  faded  with  its  utility.  There  was  nothing  premature 
in  its  decay — it  had  lived  long  enough.  The  holy,  or  rather  un- 
holy, war,  with  all  its  unchristian  feelings,  having  long  since  sub- 
sided, it  Mould  have  been  inconsistent  in  the  great  nations  of 
Europe  to  have  professed  a  general  disposition  for  peace,  or  to 
have  entered  into  any  treaty  with  the  Turks,  while  at  the  same 
time  they  encouraged  an  Order  which  was  mercilessly  bent  on 
their  extermination. 

The  vow  of  celibacy,  once  the  pride  of  the  Order,  became,  in 
a  more  enlightened  age,  a  mill-stone  round  its  neck  ;  it  attracted 
ridicule — it  created  guilt — the  sacred  oath  was  broken ;  and 
although  the  head,  the  heart,  and  the  pockets  of  a  soldier  may  be 
as  light  as  the  pure  air  he  breathes,  yet  he  can  never  truly  be  re- 
ported "  fit  for  duty  "  if  his  conscience  or  his  stomach  be  too 
heavily  laden.  In  short,  in  two  words,  the  Order  of  St.  John  of 
Jerusalem  was  no  longer  suited  to  the  times ;  and  Burke  had 
already  exclaimed — "  The  age  of  chivalry  has  fled /'^ 

In  the  year  1798,  this  Order,  after  having  existed  nearly  700 
years,  signed  its  own  death-warrant,  and  in  the  face  of  Europe, 
died  ignominiously — ^^felo  de  5e."  On  the  9th  of  June,  in  that 
year,  their  island  was  invaded  by  the  French ;  and  although,  as 
Napoleon  justly  remarked,  to  have  excluded  him  it  would  have 
been  only  necessary  to  have  shut  the  gates,  Valetla  was  surren- 
dered by  treachery,  the  depravity  of  wliich  will  be  best  explained 
by  the  following  extract  from  a  statement  made  by  the  Maltese 
deputies  : — "  No  one  is  ignorant  that  the  plan  of  the  invasion  of 
Malta  was  projected  in  Paris,  and  confided  to  the  principal 
knights  of  the  Order  resident  at  Malta.  Letters  in  cyphers  were 
incessantly  passing  and  repassing,  without  however  alarming  the 


106  BUBBLES. 


suspicions  of  the  deceased  Grand  Master,  or  the  Grand  Master 
Hompesch." 

As  soon  as  the  French  were  in  possession  of  the  city,  harbors, 
and  impregnable  fortresses  of  Valetta,  they  began,  as  usual,  to 
mutilate  from  the  public  buildings  everything  which  bore  the 
stamp  of  nobility,  or  recalled  to  mind  the  illustrious  actions  which 
had  been  performed.  The  arms  of  the  Order,  as  well  as  those 
of  the  principal  knights,  were  effaced  from  the  palace  and  princi- 
})al  dwelling-houses  ;  however,  as  the  knights  had  sullied  their 
own  reputation,  and  had  cast  an  indelible  blot  on  their  own  escut- 
cheons, they  had  but  little  right  to  complain  that  the  image  of 
their  glory  was  thus  insulted,  when  they  themselves  had  been 
guilty  of  the  murder  of  its  spirit.  The  Order  of  St.  John  of  Je- 
rusalem being  now  worn  out  and  decayed,  its  elements  were 
scattered  to  the  winds.  The  knights  who  were  not  in  the  French 
interest  were  ordered  to  quit  the  island  in  three  days,  and  a  dis- 
graceful salary  was  accepted  by  the  Grand  Master  Hompesch. 
Those  knights  who  had  favored  the  French  were  permitted  to 
remain,  but  exposed  to  the  rage  of  the  Maltese,  and  unprotected 
by  their  false  friends,  some  fled,  some  absolutely  perished  from 
want,  but  all  were  despised  and  hated. 

In  the  little  theatre  of  Malta  the  scene  is  about  to  change,  and 
the  British  soldier  now  marches  upon  its  stage !  On  the 
2d  of  September,  1798,  the  island  was  blockaded  by  the  English, 
and  the  fortifications  being  absolutely  impregnable,  it  became  ne- 
cessary to  attempt  the  reduction  of  the  place  by  famine. 

For  two  years  most  gallantly  did  the  French  garrison  undergo 
the  most  horrid  suffering  and  imprisonment — steadily  and  cheer- 
fully did  they  submit  to  every  possible  privation — their  stock  of 
spirits,  wine,  meat,  bread,  &c.,  doled  out  in  the  smallest  possible 
allowances,  gradually  diminished  until  all  came  to  an  end. 
Sooner  than  strike,  they  then  subsisted  upon  the  flesh  of  their 
horses,  mules,  and  asses ;  and  when  these  also  were  consumed, 
and  when  they  had  eaten  not  only  their  cats,  but  the  rats  wliich 
infested  the  houses,  drains,  &c.,  in  great  numbers — when,  from 
long-protracted  famine,  the  lamp  of  life  was  absolutely  expiring 
in  the  socket ;  in  short,  having,  as  one  of  their  kings  once  most 
nobly  exclaimed,  "  lost  all  but  their  honor,"  these  brave  men — 


THE  CROSS  OF  ST.  JOHN  OF  JERUSALEM.  107 

with  nerves  unshaken,  with  reputation  unsullied,  and  witli  famine 
proudly  painted  in  their  lean  emaciated  countenances — on  the  4th 
September,  1800,  surrendered  the  place  to  that  nation  which  Na- 
poleon has  since  termed  "  the  most  powerful,  the  most  constant, 
and  the  most  generous  of  his  enemies." 

During  the  long-winded  game  of  war  which  France  and  Eng- 
land  lately  played  together,  our  country  surely  never  made  any 
better  move  than  when  she  thus  laid  hold  of  Malta.  Even  if  the 
island  had  been  in  the  rude  state  in  which  it  was  delivered 
to  the  knights  of  Jerusalem,  still,  to  a  maritime  power  like 
England,  such  splendid  harbors  in  the  Mediterranean  would 
have  been  a  most  valuable  conquest ;  but  when  we  not  only  ap- 
preciate their  noble  outline,  but  consider  the  gigantic  and  expen- 
sive manner  in  which  this  town  has  been  impregnably  fortified,  as 
well  as  furnished  with  tanks,  subterraneous  stores,  bomb-proof 
magazines,  most  magnificent  barracks,  palaces,  &;c.,  it  is  quite 
delightful  to  reflect  on  the  series  of  events  which  have  led  to  such 
a  well-assorted  alliance  between  two  of  the  strongest  harbors  in 
the  world,  and  the  first  maritime  power  on  the  globe. 

If,  like  the  French,  we  had  taken  the  island  from  the  knights, 
however  degraded,  worn  out,  and  useless  their  Order  might  have 
become,  yet  Europe  in  general,  and  France  in  particular,  might 
always  have  reproached  us,  and,  for  aught  we  know,  our  own  con- 
sciences might  have  become  a  little  tender  on  the  subject.  But 
the  delightful  truth  is,  that  no  power  in  Europe  can  breathe  a 
word  or  a  syllable  against  our  possession  of  the  island  of  Malta 
— it  is  an  honor  which,  in  open  daylight,  we  have  fairly  won,  and 
I  humbly  say,  long,  very  long,  may  we  wear  it ! 

With  respect  to  the  Maltese  themselves,  I  just  at  this  moment 
recollect  a  trifling  story  which  will,  I  think,  delineate  their  cha- 
racter with  tolerable  accuracy. 


108  BUBBLES. 


THE  RENEGADE. 


Of  all  the  little  unhappy  prejudices  which  in  different  parts  of  the 
globe  it  has  been  my  fortune  or  rather  misfortune,  to  witness,  I 
nowhere  remember  to  have  met  with  a  deeper-rooted  hatred  or  a 
more  implacable  animosity  than  existed,  some  twenty  or  thirty 
years  ago,  in  the  hearts  of  the  Maltese  towards  the  Turks. 

In  all  warm  glowing  latitudes,  human  passions,  good  as  well 
as  bad,  may  be  said  to  stand  at  least  at  that  degree  which  on 
Fahrenheit's  scale  would  be  denoted  "fever  heat;"  and  steam 
itself  can  hardly  be  more  different  from  ice, — the  Bengal  tiger 
springing  on  his  prey  cannot  form  a  greater  contrast  to  that  half- 
frozen  fisherman  the  white  bear,  as  he  sits  on  his  iceberg  sucking 
his  paws, — than  are  the  passions  of  hot  countries  when  compared 
with  the  cold  torpid  feelings  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  northern 
regions  of  the  globe. 

In  all  parts  of  the  Mediterranean  I  found  passions  of  all  sorts 
very  vioJent,  but,  without  any  exception,  that  which,  at  the  period 
I  refer  to,  stood  uppermost  in  the  scale,  was  bigotry.  Besides  the 
eager  character  which  belonged  to  their  latitude,  one  might 
naturally  expect  that  the  Maltese,  from  being  islanders,  would  be 
rather  more  ignorant  and  prejudiced  than  their  continental  neigh- 
bors ;  however,  in  addition  to  these  causes,  when  I  was  among 
them,  they  really  had  good  reason  to  dislike  the  Turks,  who  during 
the  time  of  the  knights  had  been  ex  officio  their  constant  and  most 
bitter  enemies. 

Whether  these  fine  valiant  knights  of  Jerusalem  conquered  the 
Turks  or  were  defeated,  the  Maltese,  on  board  their  galleys  (like 
the  dwarf  who  fought  with  the  giant),  always  suffered :  besides 
this,  their  own  little  trading  vessels  were  constantly  captured  by 


THE  RENEGADE.  109 


tlie  said  Turks,  the  crews  being  not  only  maltreated  and  tortured, 
but  often  in  cold  blood  cruelly  massacred ;  in  short,  if  there  was 
any  bad  feeling  in  the  heart  of  a  Maltese,  which  the  history  of  his 
island  as  well  as  every  bitter  recollection  of  his  life,  seemed 
naturally  to  nourish,  it  was  an  implacable  hatred  for  the  Turks ; 
and  that  this  sad  theory  was  most  fully  supported  by  the  fact, 
became  evident  the  instant  one  observed  a  Maltese,  on  the  com- 
monest subject,  utter  that  hated,  accursed  word,  "  Turco,''  or 
Turk.  The  sort  of  petty  convulsion  of  the  mind  with  which  this 
dissyllable  was  delivered  was  really  very  remarkable,  and  the 
roll  and  flash  of  the  eye — the  little  bullying  shake  of  the  head — 
the  slight  stamp  of  the  left  foot — and  the  twitch  in  the  fingers  of 
the  right  hand,  reminded  one  for  the  moment  of  the  manner  in 
which  a  French  dragoon,  when  describing  an  action,  mentions 
that  his  regiment  came  on  •'  sabre  a  la  main  .'" — words  which,  if 
you  were  to  give  him  the  universe,  he  could  not  pronounce  with- 
out grinding  his  teeth,  much  less  with  that  cold-hearted  simplicity 
with  which  one  of  our  soldiers  would  calmly  say  "  sword  in 
hand." 

This  hatred  of  the  Maltese  towards  the  Turks  was  a  sort  of 
cat-and-dog  picture  which  always  attracted  my  notice  ;  however, 
1  witnessed  one  example  of  it,  on  which  occasion  I  felt  very 
strongly  it  was  carried  altogether  beyond  a  joke. 

One  lovely  morning — I  remember  it  as  if  it  were  yesterday — 
there  had  been  a  great  religious  festival  in  the  island,  which,  as 
usual,  had  caused  a  good  deal  of  excitement,  noise,  and  fever ; 
and,  as  a  nation  seldom  allays  its  thirst  without  quarrelling,  as 
soon  as  the  hot  sun  set,  a  great  many  still  hotter  disturbances  took 
place.  In  one  of  these  rows,  a  party  of  Turks,  justly  or  unjustly, 
became  offended  with  the  inhabitants  ;  an  affray  occurred,  and  a 
Mahometan  having  stabbed  a  Maltese,  he  was  of  course  thrown 
into  prison  ;  and  in  process  of  time,  surrounded  by  a  strong  guard, 
he  was  led  into  the  Maltese  court  to  be  tried  {Anglice,  condemned) 
for  the  offence.  As  he  threaded  his  way  through  the  crowd 
which  had  assembled  in  those  dirty  passages  and  dark  cliambers 
that  led  to  the  tribunal,  the  women  shrank  back  as  the  "  Turcn" 
passed  them,  as  if  his  very  breath  would  have  infected  them  with 
the  plague ;  while  in  the  countenances  of  the  men,  as  they  leant 


110  BUBBLES. 


forwards  arresting  him  in  his  progress,  and  ahnost  touching  him 
with  their  brown  faces,  it  was  evident  that  they  were  all  animated 
with  but  one  feeling  and  one  desire,  that  is  to  say,  hatred  and 
revenge  :  however,  nothing  was  heard  but  a  very  slight  murmur 
or  groan,  and  the  prisoner  was  soon  seen  a  little  raised  above  the 
crowd,  trembling  at  the  bar.  He  was  a  diminutive,  mean-look- 
ing, ill-favored  little  fellow,  dressed  in  the  loose  Turkish  costume, 
with  a  very  small  dirty  white  turban,  the  folds  of  which  were 
deemed  more  odious  to  the  Christian  eye  than  if  they  had  been 
formed  by  the  wreathing  body  of  the  serpent.  While  the  crowd 
were  shouldering  each  other,  head  peeping  over  head,  and  before 
the  shuffling  of  moving  feet  could  be  silenced,  avvocati,  or  clerks, 
who  sat  in  the  small  space  between  the  prisoner  and  the  bench, 
were  seen  eagerly  mending  their  pens,  and  they  had  already 
dipped  them  into  the  ink,  and  the  coarse,  dirty,  rough-edged  paper 
on  which  they  were  to  write  was  folded  and  placed  ready  in  front 
of  them,  before  it  was  possible  to  commence  the  trial. 

The  court  was  insufferably  hot,  and  there  was  such  a  stench 
of  garlic  and  of  clothing  impregnated  with  the  stale  fumes  of 
tobacco,  that  one  longed  almost  as  much  as  the  prisoner  to  escape 
into  the  open  air,  while  the  sallow  faces  of  the  avvocati,  clerks, 
and  every  one  connected  with  the  duties  of  the  court,  showed 
how  unhealthy,  as  well  as  offensive,  was  the  atmosphere  which 
they  breathed.  On  the  bench  sat  what  one  must  call  the  Judges, 
but  to  an  English  mind  such  a  title  but  ill  belonged  to  those  who 
had  only  lately  been  forced,  most  reluctantly,  to  expel  torture 
from  their  code.  Just  before  Malta  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
French  and  English,  my  own  servant,  Giuseppe,  had  lived  in  the 
service  of  one  of  the  Maltese  Judges ;  and  among  many  horrors 
which  he  often  very  calmly  described  to  me  (for  he  had  witnessed 
them  until  he  had  become  quite  accustomed  to  them),  he  told  me 
that  he  had  had  constantly  to  pass  through  a  court  in  which  were 
those  who  were  doomed  to  ride  upon  what  was  called  the  "  cavallo 
di  legno,"  or  wooden  horse.  With  weights  attached  to  each  foot, 
he  used  to  see  them  sitting  bolt  upright  on  this  sharp  narrow  ridge, 
with  two  torches  burning  within  a  few  inches  of  their  naked  chests 
and  backs,  in  order  that  they  should  relieve  themselves  by  a  change 


THE  RENEGADE.  Ill 


of  attitude  no  longer  than  they  could  endure  the  pain  of  leaning 
against  the  flame.     But  to  return  to  the  court. 

The  trial  of  the  Turk  now  began  and  every  rigid  form  was 
most  regularly  followed.  The  accusation  was  read — the  story 
was  detailed — the  Maltese  witnesses  in  great  numbers  one  after 
another  corroborated  almost  in  the  same  words  the  same  state- 
ment— several  times  when  the  prisoner  was  ordered  to  be  silent, 
as  by  some  ejaculation  he  interrupted  the  thread  of  the  narrative, 
did  the  eyes  of  every  being  in  court  flash  in  anger  and  contempt 
upon  him,  their  countenances  as  suddenly  returning  to  a  smile 
as  the  evidence  of  the  witnesses  proceeded  with  their  criminatory 
details.  At  last,  the  case  being  fully  substantiated,  the  culprit 
was  called  upon  for  his  defence.  Although  a  poor,  mean,  illiter- 
ate wretch,  it  is  possible  he  might  have  intended  to  have  made  a 
kind  of  a  sort  of  a  speech ;  but  when  he  came  to  the  point,  his 
heart  failed  him,  and  his  lips  had  only  power  to  utter  one  single 
word. 

Regardless  of  the  crowd  as  if  it  had  not  existed,  looking  as  if 
he  thought  there  was  no  object  in  creation  but  the  central  Judge 
on  the  bench,  he  fixed  his  eyes  for  some  moments  upon  his  cold, 
sallow,  immoveable  countenance,  until,  overpowered  by  his  feel- 
ings, almost  sinking  into  the  ground,  he  clasped  his  hands,  and 
in  an  agony  of  expression,  which  it  is  quite  impossible  to  describe, 
he  asked  for  "  Mercy  !" 

"  Nix  standy  /  I  don't  understand  ye  /''  said  an  old  English 
soldier  one  day,  in  the  Bois-de-Boulogne,  to  a  French  general, 
who,  with  much  gesture  and  grimace,  was  telling  him  in  French, 
that  the  English  were  acting  against  the  law  of  nations  in  thus 
cutting  down  so  beautiful  a  forest  as  the  said  Bois -de -Boulogne. 
"  Nix  standy  V  repeated  the  ruddy-faced  soldier,  continuing  to 
hack  with  all  his  might  at  a  young  tree  which  he  had  almost  cut 
down  with  his  sabre.  The  very  same  answer  N\as  strongly  ex- 
pressed in  the  countenance  of  the  Judge  to  the  petition  of  the 
unhappy  Turk,  who,  had  he  been  in  the  desert  of  Africa,  might 
just  as  well  have  asked  merely  for  the  ocean,  as,  in  a  Maltese 
court,  to  have  supplicated  for  mercy.  For  some  time  tlie  Judge  sat  in 
awful  silence — then  whispered  a  few  words  to  his  colleagues — 
again  all  was  silent :  at  last,  when   some  little  forms  had  been 


112  BUBBLES. 


observed,  the  Chief  Judge  pronounced  a  sentence  on  the  prisoner, 
which  he  might  just  as  well  have  done  without  his  having  endured 
the  pain  and  anxiety  of  a  long  trial.  It  is  hardly  worth  while 
mentioning  the  sentence  ;  for,  of  course,  it  was  that  the  Turco, 
being  guilty  of  the  murder  of  the  Maltese,  was  to  be  hanged  by 
the  neck  till  he  was  dead  ;  every  word  of  which  sentence  was 
most  ravenously  devoured  by  the  audience  :  and  the  trial  being 
now  over,  the  prisoner  was  hurried  away  to  his  dungeon,  while 
the  crowd  eagerly  rushed  into  the  hot  sunshine  and  open  air. 

A  very  considerable  time  elapsed  between  the  sentence  and  the 
day  fixed  for  execution.  Where  the  prisoner  was — what  were 
liis  feelings — how  he  was  fed — "  and  how  he  fared — no  one  knew, 
and  no  one  cared :''  however,  on  the  last  day  of  his  existence,  I 
happened  to  be  riding  along  Strada  Forni,  when  I  heard  a  bellow. 
ing  sort  of  a  blast  from  a  cow's  horn,  which  I  instantly  knew  to 
be  the  signal  that  a  fellow-creature  was  going  to  the  gallows.  In 
any  country  in  the  world,  the  monotonous  moan  which  proceeds 
from  this  wild  uncouth  instrument  would  be  considered  as  ex- 
tremely harsh  and  disagreeable  :  but  at  Malta,  where  the  ear  has 
been  constantly  accustomed  to  good  Italian  music,  and  to  listen 
to  nothing  more  discordant  than  the  lovely  and  love-making  notes 
of  the  guitar,  this  savage  whoop  was  indescribably  offensive,  par- 
ticularly being  accompanied  by  the  knowledge  that  it  was  the 
death-march,  and  the  dirge  of  the  murderer — "  the  knell  that 
summoned  him  to  heaven  or  to  hell !" 

As  I  rode  towards  Strada  Reale,  the  principal  street  of  Valetta, 
down  which  the  procession  was  proceeding,  a  dismal  blast  from 
this  horn  was  heard  about  every  ten  seconds  ;  and,  as  it  sounded 
louder  and  louder,  it  was  evident  the  procession  was  approaching. 
At  last,  on  coming  to  the  corner  of  the  street,  I  saw  the  culprit 
advancing  on  his  funeral  car.  The  streets  on  both  sides  were 
lined  with  spectators,  and  every  window  was  filled  with  out- 
stretched figures  and  eager  faces.  In  the  middle  of  Strada 
Reale,  preceding  the  prisoner,  were  three  or  four  mutes ;  while 
several  others  were  also  begging  in  different  parts  of  the  town. 
These  people,  who  belonged  to  some  of  the  principal  Maltese 
families,  were  covered  from  head  to  foot  with  long  loose  robes  of 
white  linen,  a  couple  of  holes  being  cut  for  their  eyes.     Their 


THE  RENEGADE.  113 


feet  were  bare,  and  to  eacli  ankle  was  affixed  a  chain  of  such 
weight  and  length,  that  it  was  as  much  as  they  could  do  to  drag 
one  leg  after  the  other.  In  the  right  hand  they  held  a  tin  money- 
box, in  the  shape  of  a  lantern,  with  death's  head  and  bloody  bones 
painted  upon  it.  A  small  slit  in  this  box  received  the  copper 
contributions  of  the  multitude  ;  and,  as  these  mutes  passed  me  in 
horrid  triumph,  shaking  the  box  every  step  they  took  (the  rattling 
of  the  money  forming  a  sort  of  savage  accompaniment  to  the 
deep  clanking  of  their  chains),  they  had  altogether  an  unearthly 
appearance,  which  certainly  seemed  less  to  belong  to  heaven  than 
to  hell ;  however,  the  malefactor  now  approached,  and  as  soon  as 
he  came  up  to  the  corner  of  my  street,  I,  loosening  my  rein,  rode 
for  a  few  moments  at  his  side,  attracted  by  one  of  the  strangest 
scenes  which  I  think  I  have  ever  beheld.  The  man  ^^■as  half- 
sitting,  half-reclining,  on  a  sort  of  low,  rattling,  iron  vehicle,  of  an 
indescribable  shape,  which  raised  his  head  a  little  above  the 
level  of  the  people ;  and  the  very  moment  I  looked  him  in  the 
face,  much  of  the  secret  history  of  what  had  passed  since  the  day 
of  his  condemnation  was  as  legible  in  his  countenance  as  if  it  had 
been  written  there.  He  had  been  existing  in  some  dark  place, 
for  his  complexion  was  blanched  by  absence  from  light ;  he  had 
evidently  been  badly  fed,  for  there  was  famine  in  his  sunken 
features  ;  his  nerves  were  gone,  for  he  was  trembling ;  his  health 
liad  materially  been  impaired,  either  by  suffering  of  body  or 
mind,  for  the  man  was  evidently  extremely  ill  ;  and  last,  tliough 
not  least,  for  some  mysterious  reason,  either  from  an  expectation 
of  obtaining  mercy  in  this  v.orld  or  in  the  next,  he  had  evidently 
abjured  his  religion,  for  his  dirty  while  turban  was  gone,  and, 
very  ill  at  his  ease,  he  sat,  or  rather  reclined,  in  the  clothes  of  a 
Christian  ! 

The  car  on  which  he  proceeded  was  surrounded  by  an  immense 
number  of  priests,  belonging  to  the  different  churches  of  Valetta, 
and  apparently  to  those  also  of  all  the  casals  and  villages  in  the 
island.  All  angry  feelings  had  most  completely  subsided;  in 
their  minds,  as  well  as  in  the  minds  of  the  people,  the  day  was 
one  only  of  triumph  and  of  joy  ;  and,  intoxicated  with  the  spirit 
of  religious  enthusiasm,  the  priests  were  evidently  besides  them- 
selves with  delight  at  having  succeeded  in  the  miraculous  conver- 
9 


114  BUBBLES. 


sion  which  they  had  effected.  Shouldering  and  pushing  each 
other  with  all  their  strength,  with  outstretched  arms,  and  earnest 
countenances,  they  were  all,  in  different  attitudes  and  voices, 
calling  upon  the  malefactor  to  repeat  the  name  of  their  own  par- 
ticular saint ;  some  behind  him  were  trying  to  attract  his  notice 
by  pulling  his  clothes,  while  those  before  him,  by  dint  of  voice 
and  gesture,  were  equally  endeavoring  to  catch  his  eye ;  and 
such  a  confused  cry  of  "  Viva  San  Tommaso  !"  •'•  Viva  San 
Giuseppe  !"  "  Viva  San  Giovanni !"  "  Viva  San  Paolo  !"  I  will 
not  pretend  to  describe.  It  was,  of  course,  impossible  for  the 
wretch  to  comply  with  all  their  noisy  demands  :  yet,  poor  fellow  ! 
he  did  his  best ;  and,  in  a  low  faint  voice,  being  dreadfully  ex- 
hausted by  the  jolting  and  shaking  of  the  carriage,  he  repeated 
"  Viva  San  Paolo  !"  &c.,  &c.,  as  he  caught  the  eye  of  the  dif- 
ferent priests.  He  had  evidently  no  rule  in  these  exclamations 
which  he  uttered,  for  I  observed  that  the  strong  brawny-shouldered 
priests,  who  got  nearest  to  him,  often  made  him  repeat  the  name 
of  their  saints  twice,  before  the  little  bandy-legged  ones  in  the 
rear  could  get  him  to  mention  theirs  once.  As  this  strange  con- 
cert  proceeded,  it  was  impossible  to  help  pitying  the  poor  culprit ; 
for,  if  one  had  been  travelling  from  one  magnificent  palace  to 
another,  to  be  so  jolted  and  tormented  both  in  body  and  mind 
when  one  was  ill,  would  by  any  of  us  have  been  termed  dread- 
fully disagreeable  ;  but  for  all  this  to  happen  to  a  man  just  at  the 
very  moment  he  was  going  to  be  hanged — at  that  moment  of  all 
others  in  which  any  of  us  would  desire  to  be  left,  at  least  for  a 
few  seconds,  to  his  own  reflections,  appeared  at  the  time  to  be 
hard  indeed.  After  passing  under  the  great  gate  and  subterra- 
neous exit  called  Porta  Reale,  the  procession  wound  its  way 
across  the  drawbridges,  and  along  the  deep  ditches,  &c.,  of  the 
fortification,  until  coming  out  upon  the  great  esplanade  which 
lies  between  Valetta  and  Floriana,  an  immense  crowd  of  people 
was  suddenly  seen  waiting  round  the  gallows — at  the  sight  of 
which  I  pulled  up.  The  priests  were  now  more  eager  than  ever 
in  beseeching  the  criminal  to  call  upon  the  name  of  their  saint  : 
the  mutes,  whose  white  robes  in  all  directions  were  seen  scattered 
among  the  people,  were  evidently  shaking  their  boxes  more 
violently  than  ever,  while  among  the  crowd  there  was  a  general 


THE  RENEGADE.  115 


lifting  of  feet,  which  showed  the  intense  anxiety  of  their  feelings. 
As  the  procession  slowly  approached  the  gallows,  I  could  not 
hear  what  was  going  on  ;  but  in  a  very  short  time,  from  the  dis- 
tance at  which  I  stood,  I  saw  the  man  led  up  the  ladder  by  the 
executioner,  who  continued  always  a  step  or  two  above  him  :  the 
rope  was  round  his  neck,  and  resting  loosely  on  the  culprit's 
head  there  was  something  like  a  round  wooden  plate,  through  a 
hole  in  the  centre  of  which  the  rope  passed.  As  soon  as  the 
poor  creature  got  high  up  on  the  ladder,  the  vociferations  of  the 
priests  suddenly  ceased  ;  for  a  few  seconds  a  dead  silence  en- 
sued, when,  all  of  a  sudden,  there  was  a  simultaneous  burst  or 
shriek  of  exclamation  from  priests  and  populace,  echoing  and 
re-echoing  the  words  •'  Viva  la  Christianita !"  which  the  man,  in 
a  low  tone  of  voice,  had  just  been  persuaded  to  utter.  All  caps 
waved — every  human  being  seemed  to  be  congratulating  each 
other  on  the  delightful  conversion ;  and  no  person  seemed  to  pay 
the  slightest  possible  attention  to  the  poor  wretch,  who,  with  the 
last  syllable  on  his  lips,  had  been  pushed  off  the  ladder,  and  was 
now  calmly  swinging  in  the  air,  the  executioner  standing  on  the 
loose  wooden  plate  above  his  head,  holding  by  the  rope,  and,  with 
many  antics,  stamping  with  all  his  force  to  break  the  neck,  while 
the  people,  in  groups,  were  already  bending  their  steps  home- 
wards. Not  wishing  to  encounter  such  a  crowd,  I  turned  my 
horse  in  another  direction,  and  passed  a  number  of  mules  and 
asses  belonging  to  many  of  the  people  who  had  come  from  the 
most  remote  casals  to  see  the  execution.  The  animals  were  all 
standing  half-asleep,  nodding  their  heads  in  the  sun — a  herd  of 
goats  were  as  quietly  grazing  near  the  ramparts ;  and  when  I 
contrasted  the  tranquillity  which  these  animals  were  enjoying, 
with  the  scene  I  had  just  witnessed,  I  could  not  help  feeling  that 
I  had  more  cause  than  Virgil  to  exclaim — "  Sic  vos  non  vobis  /" 

In  returning  from  my  ride,  I  had  to  cross  the  esplanade,  and  as 
there  was  then  no  one  at  the  gallows,  I  rode  close  by  it.  The 
fitTure,  which  was  still  hanging,  was  turning  round  very  slowly, 
as  if  it  were  roasting  before  the  sun  ;  the  neck  was  so  completely 
disjointed,  that  the  head  almost  hung  downwards,  and  as  I  rode  by 
it  I  was  much  struck  in  observing  that  the  tongue  was  out  of  the 
mouth  half  bitten  off— a  dreadful  emblem,  thought  I,  of  a  renegade 


116  BUBBLES. 


to  his  religion !  Whether  or  not,  the  poor  wretch  had  been 
induced  to  utter  his  last  exclamation,  from  a  hollow  promise  that 
it  would  save  his  life,  is  a  mystery  which  will  probably  never  on 
this  earth  be  explained  to  us ;  however,  whatever  was  his  creed, 
it  is  impossible  to  deny  that  when  he  swung  from  this  world  to 
eternity,  he  had  but  little  reason  to  admire  the  practical  part  of  a 
Roman  Catholic's  mercy,  however  beautifully  and  unanswerably 
its  theoiy  might  have  been  explained  to  him. 

As  soon  as  I  got  to  Valetta,  I  put  up  my  horse,  and,  strolling 
about  the  streets,  soon  found  myself  in  the  immense  church  of 
St.  John,  which,  in  point  of  size  and  magnificence,  is  only  second 
in  the  world  to  St.  Peter's,  at  Rome.  The  congregation  was 
almost  exclusively  composed  of  the  people  who  had  attended  the 
execution,  and  quantities  of  men  as  well  as  women,  semi-shrouded 
in  their  black  silk  faldettes,  were  listening  to  a  tall,  strong-look- 
ing Capuchin  friar,  who,  with  great  emphasis,  was  preaching 
from  a  high  pulpit,  placed  at  a  projecting  angle  of  one  of  the  many 
chapels  which  ramified  from  the  aisle  or  great  body  of  the  church. 
He  was  a  remarkably  handsome  man,  of  about  thirty,  and  though 
his  face  was  pale,  or  rather  brown,  yet  his  eye  and  features  were 
strikingly  vivid  and  intellectual ;  a  rim  or  band  of  jet-black  curly 
hair  encircled  his  head,  the  rest  of  his  hair  by  a  double  tonsure 
having  been  shaved  at  the  top  and  from  ear  to  ear  ',  his  throat 
was  completely  uncovered,  and  as  he  suddenly  turned  from  one 
part  of  his  congregation  to  another,  its  earnest  attitudes  were  very 
beautiful.  His  brown  sack-cloth  cowl  rested  in  folds  upon  his 
shoulders,  and  the  loose  negligent  manner  in  which  a  cloak  of  the 
same  coarse  material  hung  upon  his  body,  being  apparently 
merely  kept  together  by  the  white  rope,  or  whip  of  knots,  which 
encircled  his  waist,  displayed  a  series  of  lines  which  any 
painter  might  well  have  copied ;  indeed,  the  whole  dress  of  the 
Capuchin  has  been  admirably  well  imagined,  and  above  all  others 
it  is  calculated  to  impress  upon  the  mind  of  the  spectator  that  its 
wearer  is  a  man  doomed  to  abstinence  and  mortification,  seeking 
no  enjoyment  on  this  side  of  the  grave,  and  never  lowering  his 
eyes  from  heaven,  but  fervently  to  exclaim — 

"  Vain  pomp  and  glory  of  the  world,  I  hate  ye  !" 


THE  RENEGADE.  117 


The  subject  of  the  sermon  was,  of  course,  the  execution  which 
we  had  all  witnessed.  The  hard-hearted  infidelity  of  the  Turks 
was  very  richly  painted  and  described,  and  the  crime  which  they 
had  just  seen  expiated  was  clearly  proved  to  be  the  effect,  and  the 
natural  effect,  of  a  Mahometan's  anger.  The  happy  conversion 
of  the  infidel  then  became  a  subject  which  was  listened  to  with 
the  most  remarkable  stillness,  and  every  eye  was  riveted  upon 
the  mouth  of  the  Capuchin,  as  he  minutely  detailed  the  triumph 
and  the  conquest  which  had  been  made  of  the  sheep  which  had 
that  day,  before  their  eyes,  been  added  to  the  flock.  He  then  ex- 
plained, or  endeavored  to  explain  (for  it  was  no  very  easy  task), 
that  the  money  which  had  that  morning  been  collected  for  the 
purchase  of  masses,  proved  to  be  just  sutficient  to  purify  the  soul 
of  the  departed  sinner  ;  but  this,  he  very  eloquently  demonstrated, 
was  only  to  be  effected  through  the  mediation  of  one  whose  image 
nailed  to  the  cross  was  actually  erected  in  the  pulpit  on  his  right 
hand.  After  expatiating  on  this  subject  at  considerable  length, 
working  himself  and  hearers  into  a  state  of  very  great  excitement, 
with  both  his  arms  stretched  out,  with  his  eyes  uplifted,  he  most 
fervently  addressed  the  figure,  exclaiming  in  a  most  emphatic 
tone  of  voice — " -Sz  .'  mio  caro  Signore  f  Sif'^  &c.  The  effect 
which  was  instantly  produced  in  the  hearts  of  his  hearers  was 
very  evident,  and  the  fine  melodious  voice,  together  with  the 
strong,  nervous,  muscular  attitude  of  the  preacher,  contrasted 
with  the  drooping,  exhausted,  lifeless,  image  above  him,  would 
have  worked  its  effect  upon  the  mind  of  any  Christian  spectator. 

As  soon  as  the  sermon  was  over,  the  congregation  dispersed. 
The  day  ended  in  universal  joy  and  festivity  ;  no  revengeful 
recollections — no  unkind  feelings  were  entertained  towards  him 
who  had  been  the  principal  actor  of  that  day  ;  on  the  contrary, 
the  Maltese  seemed  rather  to  feel,  that  it  was  to  him  they  were 
especially  indebted  for  the  pleasurable  performances  they  had 
witnessed,  and  thus — 

"  In  peaceful  merriment  ran  down  the  sun's  declining  ray.*' 


118  BUBBLES. 


SCHLANGENBAD ;  OR,  THE  SERPENTS'  BATH. 


Time  had  glided  along  so  agreeably  ever  since  my  arrival  at 
Langen-Schwalbach,  my  body  had  enjoyed  such  perpetual  motion, 
my  mind  such  absolute  rest,  that  I  had  almost  forgotten,  though 
my  holiday  was  nearly  over,  I  had  not  yet  reached  the  intended 
ne  plus  ultra  of  my  travels — namely,  Schlangenbad,  or  the 
Serpents'  Bath.  On  the  spur  of  the  moment,  therefore,  I  ordered 
a  carriage  ;  and,  with  my  wallet  lying  by  my  side,  having  bidden 
adieu  to  a  simple-hearted  village,  which,  for  the  short  remainder 
of  my  days,  I  believe  I  shall  remember  with  regard,  I  continued 
for  some  time  gradually  to  ascend  its  eastern  boundary,  until  I 
arrived  nearly  at  the  summit  or  pinnacle  of  the  Taunus  hills. 
The  view  from  this  point  was  very  extensive  indeed,  and  the 
park-like  appearance  of  the  whole  of  the  lofty  region  or  upper 
story  of  Nassau  formed  a  prospect  at  once  noble  and  pleasing. 
The  Langen-Schwalbach  band  of  wind  instruments  was  playing 
deep  beneath  me  in  the  valley,  but  hidden  by  the  fog,  its  sound 
was  so  driven  about  by  the  wind,  that  had  I  not  recognized  the 
tunes  I  but  faintly  heard,  I  should  not  have  been  able  to  deter- 
mine from  what  point  of  the  compass  they  proceeded.  Sometimes 
they  seemed  to  rise,  like  the  mist,  from  one  valley — sometimes 
from  another — occasionally  I  fancied  they  were  like  the  hurricane, 
sweeping  across  the  surface  of  the  country,  and  once  I  could 
almost  have  declared  that  the  JEolian  band  was  calmly  seated 
above  me  in  the  air. 

The  numberless  ravines  which  intersect  Nassau  were  not 
discernible  from  the  spot  where  my  carriage  had  halted,  and 
Langen-Schwalbach  was  so  muffled  in  its  peaceful  retreat,  that  a 
stranger  could  scarcely  have  guessed  it  existed. 


SCHLANGENBAD;  OR,  THE  SERPENTS'  BATH.  110 


From  this  elevated  point  the  Taunus  hills  began  gradually  to 
fall  towards  Wiesbaden  and  Frankfurt ;  but  a  branch  road, 
suddenly  turning  to  the  right,  rapidly  descended,  or  rather 
meandered  down  a  long,  rocky,  narrow  ravine,  clothed  with  beecli 
and  oak  trees  to  its  summit. 

With  a  wheel  of  the  carriage  dragged,  as  I  glided  fast  down 
this  romantic  valley,  the  scenery,  compared  with  what  I  liad  just 
left,  was  on  a  very  confmed,  contracted  scale — in  short,  nothing 
was  to  be  seen  but  a  trickling  stream  running  down  the  grassy 
bottom  of  a  valley,  and  hills  v.hich  appeared  to  environ  it  on  both 
sides  ;  besides  this,  the  road  writhed  and  bent  so  continually,  that 
I  could  seldom  see  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  it  at  once. 

After  descending  about  three-quarters  of  a  league,  I  came  to  a 
new  turn,  and  here  Schlangenbad,  the  Serpents'  Bath,  dressed 
in  its  magic  mantle  of  tranquillity,  suddenly  appeared  not  only 
before,  but  within  less  than  a  hundred  yards  of  me. 

This  secluded  spot,  to  which  such  a  niunber  of  people  annually 
retreat,  consists  of  nothing  but  an  immense  old  building,  or  "  Bad- 
Haus,'"'  a  new  one,  with  two  or  three  little  mills,  which,  fed,  as 
it  were,  by  the  crumbs  that  fall  from  the  rich  man's  table,  are 
turned  by  the  famous  spring  of  water,  after  great,  fine,  fashionable 
ladies  have  done  washing  themselves  in  it. 

When  the  carriage  stopped,  my  first  impression  (which  through 
life  but  too  often,  I  regret  to  say,  has  been  an  erroneous  one)  was 
not  in  favor  of  the  place ;  for,  though  its  colors  were  certainly 
very  beautiful,  yet,  from  being  so  completely  surrounded  by  hills, 
it  seemed  to  wear  some  of  the  features  of  a  prison  ;  and  when, 
my  vehicle  driving  away,  I  was  first  left  by  myself,  I  felt  for  a 
moment  that  the  little  band  of  music,  which  was  playing  upon  the 
terrace  above  my  head,  was  not  quite  competent  to  enliven  the 
scene.  However,  after  I  had  walked  in  various  directions  about 
this  sequestered  spot,  sufficiently  not  only  to  become  acquainted 
with  its  Jocolc,  but  to  discover  that  it  possessed  a  number  of  modest 
beauties,  completely  veiled  from  the  passing  gaze  of  the  stranger, 
I  went  to  the  old  "  Bad-Haus  "  to  obtain  rooms  from  the  bath- 
master  (appointed  by  the  Duke),  who  has  charge  of  both  of  these 
great  establishments. 

I  found  the  little  man  seated  in  his  office,  in  the  agony  of 


120  BUBBLES. 

calculating  upon  a  slate  the  amount  of  seven  times  nine ;  per- 
ceiving,  however,  that  instead  of  multiplying  the  two  figures 
together,  he  liad  reared  up  a  ladder  of  seven  nines,  v.iiich  step  by 
step  he  was  slowly  ascending,  I  felt  quite  unwilling  to  interrupt 
him  ;  and  as  his  wife  appeared  to  be  gifted  with  all  or  many  of 
the  little  abilities  in  which  he  might  have  been  deficient,  I  gladly 
availed  myself  of  her  obliging  offer  to  show  me  over  the  two 
buildings,  in  order  that  I  might  select  some  apartments. 

The  old  "  Bad-Haus,"  and  Hotel  de  Nassau,  which,  being 
united  together,  form  one  of  the  two  great  buildings  I  have  men- 
tioned, are  situated  on  the  side  of  the  hill  close  to  the  macadamized 
road  which  leads  to  Mainz  ;  and  to  give  some  idea  of  the  gigantic 
scale  on  which  these  sort  of  German  bathing  establishments  are 
constructed,  I  will  state,  that  in  this  rambling  "Bad-Haus"  I 
counted  443  windows,  and  that  without  ever  twice  going  over  the 
same  ground,  I  found  the  passages  measured  409  paces,  or,  as 
nearly  as  possible,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  !* 

Below  this  immense  barrack,  and  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
road,  is  the  new  "Bad-Haus,"  or  bathing  house,  pleasantly 
situated  in  a  shrubbery.  This  building  (which  contains  172 
windows)  is  of  a  modern  construction,  and  straddling  across  the 
bottom  of  the  valley,  the  celebrated  water,  which  rises  milk-warm 
from  the  rock,  after  supplying  the  baths  on  the  lower  story,  runs 
from  beneath  it.  No  sooner,  however,  does  the  fluid  escape  from 
the  building,  than  a  group  of  poor  washerwomen,  standing  up  to 
their  knees  on  a  sheet,  which  is  stretched  upon  the  ground,  hum- 
bly make  use  of  it  before  it  has  time  to  get  to  the  two  little  mills 
which  are  patiently  waiting  for  it  about  a  couple  of  hundred  yards 
below. 

After  having  passed,  in  the  two  establishments,  an  immense 
number  of  rooms,  each  furnished  by  the  Duke  with  white  window- 
curtains,  a  walnut-tree  bed  with  bedding,  a  chestnut-tree  table,  an 
elastic  spring  sofa,  and  three  or  four  walnut-tree  chairs,  the  price  of 
each  room  (on  an  average  from  lOd.  to  25.  a-day)  being  painted 
on  the  door,  I  complimented  the  good,  or,  to  give  her  her  proper 
title,  the  "  bad  "  lady  who  attended  me,  on  the  plain,  but  useful 

*  The  Hotel  de  Nassau  has,  I  understand,  been  just  pulled  down,  and  is 
to  be  rebuilt  on  a  new  plan. 


SCHLANGENBAD ;  OR,  THE  SERPENTS'  BATH.  121 


order  in  which  they  appeared  :  in  return  for  which  she  very 
obhgingly  offered  to  show  me  the  source  of  the  famous  water,  for 
tlie  sake  of  which  two  such  enormous  establishments  had  been 
erected. 

In  the  history  of  the  little  duchy  of  Nassau,  the  discovery  of 
this  spring  forms  a  story  full  of  innocence  and  simplicity.  Once 
upon  a  time  there  was  a  heifer,  with  which  everything  in  nature 
seemed  to  disagree.  The  more  she  ate,  the  thinner  she  grew — the 
more  her  mother  licked  her  hide,  the  rougher  and  the  more  staring 
was  her  coat.  Not  a  fly  in  the  forest  would  bite  her — never  was 
she  seen  to  chew  the  cud,  but  hide-bound  and  melancholy,  her 
hips  seemed  actually  to  be  protruding  from  her  skin.  What  was 
the  matter  with  her  no  one  knew — what  w^ould  cure  her  no  one 
could  divine  ; — in  short,  deserted  by  her  master  and  her  species, 
she  was,  as  the  faculty  would  term  it,  "  given  over." 

In  a  few  weeks,  however,  she  suddenly  re-appeared  among  the 
herd,  with  ribs  covered  M'ith  flesh — eyes  like  a  deei' — skin  sleek 
as  a  mole's — breath  sweetly  smelling  of  milk — saliva  hanging  in 
ringlets  from  her  jaw  !  Every  day  seemed  to  re-establish  her 
health  ;  and  the  phenomenon  was  so  striking,  that  the  herdsman, 
feeling  induced  to  watch  her,  discovered  that  regularly  every 
evening  she  wormed  her  way,  in  secret,  into  the  forest,  until  she 
reached  an  unknown  spring  of  water,  from  which,  having  refreshed 
herself,  she  quietly  returned  to  the  valley. 

The  trifling  circumstance,  scarcely  known,  was  almost  forgottesi 
by  the  peasant,  when  a  young  Nassau  lady  began  decidedly  to 
show  exactly  the  same  incomprehensible  symptoms  as  the  heifer. 
Mother,  sisters,  friends,  father,  all  tried  to  cure  her,  but  in  vain  ; 
and  the  physician  had  actually 

"  Taken  his  leave  with  sighs  and  sorrow. 
Despairing  of  his  fee  to-morrow," 

when  the  herdsman,  happening  to  hear  of  her  case,  prevailed 
upon  her,  at  last,  to  try  the  heifer's  secret  remedy — she  did  so  ; 
and,  in  a  very  short  time,  to  the  utter  astonishment  of  her  friends, 
she  became  one  of  the  stoutest  and  roundest  young  women  in 
the  duchy. 

What  had  suddenly  cured  one  sick  lady  was  soon  deemed  a 


122  BUBBLES. 


proper  prescription  for  others,  and  all  cases  meeting  with  success, 
the  spring,  gradually  rising  into  notice,  received  its  name  from  a 
circumstance  which  I  shall  shortly  explain.  In  the  meanwhile  I 
will  observe,  that  even  to  this  day  horses  are  brought  by  the 
peasants  to  be  bathed,  and  I  have  good  authority  for  believing, 
that  in  cases  of  slight  consumption  of  the  lungs  (a  disorder  com- 
mon enough  among  horses),  the  animal  recovers  his  flesh  with 
surprising  rapidity — nay,  I  have  seen  even  the  pigs  bathed,  though 
1  must  own  that  they  appeared  to  have  no  other  disorder  except 
hunger.     But  to  return  to  the  "  bad  "  lady. 

After  following  her  through  a  labyrinth  of  passages  (one  of 
which  not  only  leant  sideways,  but  had  an  ascent  like  a  hill),  she 
at  last  unlocked  a  door,  which  was  no  sooner  opened,  than  I  saw 
glide  along  the  floor  close  by  me  a  couple  of  small  serpents  !  As  the 
lady  was  talking  very  earnestly  at  the  time,  I  merely  flinched 
aside  as  they  passed,  without  making  any  observation  ;  but  after 
I  had  crossed  a  small  garden,  she  pointed  to  a  door  which  she 
said  was  that  of  the  source,  and  while  she  stopped  to  speak  to  one 
of  the  servants,  I  advanced  alone,  and  opening  the  gate,  saw 
beneath  me  a  sort  of  brunnen  with  three  serpents  about  the  size 
of  vipers  swimming  about  in  it !  Unable  to  contain  my  surprise, 
1  made  a  signal  to  the  lady  with  my  stafl*,  and  as  she  hurried 
towards  me,  I  still  pointed  with  it  to  the  reptiles,  as  if  to  demand 
why,  in  the  name  of  ^sculapius,  they  were  allowed  thus  to  con- 
taminate  the  source  of  the  baths  1 

In  the  calmest  manner  possible,  my  conductress  (who  seemed 
perfectly  to  comprehend  my  sensations)  replied,  "  Au  coniraire, 
c^est  ce  qui  donne  la  qualite  a  ces  eaux .'" 

The  quantity  of  these  reptiles,  or  Schlangen,  that  exist  in  the 
woods  surrounding  the  spring  is  very  great ;  and  they  of  course 
have  given  their  name  to  the  place.  When  full  grown  they  are 
about  five  feet  long,  and  in  hot  weather  are  constantly  seen  gliding 
across  the  paths,  or  rustling  under  the  dead  leaves  of  the  forest. 

As  soon  as  the  lady  had  shown  me  the  whole  establishment,  she 
strongly  recommended  me  to  take  up  my  abode  in  the  old  "  Bad- 
Hausj"  however,  on  my  first  arrival,  in  crossing  the  promenade 
in  front  of  it,  I  had  caught  a  glimpse  of  some  talkative  old  ladies, 
whose  tongues  and  knitting-needles  seemed  to  be  racing  against 


SCHLANGENBAD  ;  OR,  THE  SERPENTS'  BATH.  123 

each  other,  which  made  it  very  advisable  to  decline  the  polite 
invitation  ;  and  I  accordingly  selected  apartments  at  one  extremity 
of  the  new  Bad-Haus,  my  windows  on  the  north  looking  into  the 
shrubbery,  those  on  the  east  upon  the  two  little  water-mills, 
revolving  in  the  green  lonely  valley  of  the  Schlangenbad. 

The  cell  of  the  hermit  can  hardly  be  more  peaceful  than  this 
abode :  it  is  true  it  was  not  only  completely  inhabited  (there  be- 
ing no  more  rooms  unoccupied),  but  it  was  teeming  with  people, 
many  of  whom  are  known  in  the  great  world.  For  instance, 
among  its  inmates  were  the  Princess  Romanow,  first  wife  of  the 
late  Grand  Duke  Constantino  of  Russia — the  Duke  of  Saxe-Co- 
burg — the  Prince  of  Hesse  Homburg  (whose  brother,  the  late 
Landgrave,  married  the  Princess  Elizabeth  of  England),  a  Prus- 
sian minister  from  Berlin,  and  occasionally  the  Princess  Royal  of 
Prussia,  married  to  the  son  of  King  Frederic  William.  No  part 
of  the  building  was  exclusively  occupied  by  these  royal  guests  ; 
but  paying  for  their  rooms  no  more  than  the  prices  marked  upon 
the  doors,  they  ascended  the  same  staircase  and  walked  along  the 
same  passages  with  the  humblest  inmates  of  the  place.  Yet 
within  the  narrow  dominion  of  their  own  chambers,  visitors  were 
received  with  every  attention  due  to  form  and  etiquette.  The 
silence  and  apparent  solitude  which  reigned,  however,  in  this  new 
"  Bad-Haus"  was  to  me  always  a  subject  of  astonishment  and 
admiration.  Sometimes  a  person  would  be  seen  carefully  locking 
his  door,  and  then,  with  the  key  in  his  pocket,  quietly  stealing 
along  the  passage ;  at  other  times  a  lady  might  be  caught  on  tip- 
toes softly  ascending  the  stairs ;  but  neither  steps  nor  voices  were 
to  be  heard ;  and  far  from  witnessing  anything  like  ostentation, 
it  seemed  to  me  that  concealment  was  rather  the  order  of  the  day. 
As  soon  as  it  grew  dark,  a  single  wick  floating  in  a  small  glass 
lamp,  open  at  the  top,  was  placed  at  the  two  great  entrance  doors  ; 
and  another  at  each  extremity  of  the  long  passages  into  which  the 
rooms  on  every  floor  communicated,  giving  the  visitors  just  light 
enough  to  avoid  running  against  the  walls  :  in  obscure  weather, 
there  was  also  a  lamp  here  and  there  in  the  shrubbery,  but  as 
long  as  the  pale  moon  shone  in  the  heavens,  its  lovely  light  was 
deemed  sufficient. 

A  table  d'hdte  dinner,  at  a  florin  for  each  person,  was  daily 


124  BUBBLES. 


prepared,  for  all,  or  any,  who  might  choose  to  attend  it ;  and  for 
about  the  same  price,  a  dinner,  with  knives,  forks,  table-cloth. 
napkins,  &c.,  would  be  forwarded  to  any  guest,  who,  like  myself, 
was  fond  of  the  luxury  of  solitude :  coffee  and  tea  were  cheap  in 
proportion. 

I  have  dwelt  long  upon  these  apparently  trifling  details,  because, 
humble  as  they  may  sound,  I  conceive  that  they  maintain  a  very 
important  moral.  How  many  of  our  country  people  are  always 
raving  about  the  cheapness  of  the  Continent,  and  how  many  every 
year  break  up  their  establishments  in  England  to  go  in  search  of 
it  ;  yet,  if  we  had  but  sense,  or  rather  courage  enough,  to  live  at 
home  as  economically  and  as  rationally  as  princes  and  people  of 
all  ranks  live  throughout  the  rest  of  Europe,  how  unnecessary 
would  be  the  sacrifice,  and  how  much  real  happiness  would  be 
the  result ! 

The  baths  at  Schlangenbad  are  the  most  harmless  and  deli- 
cious luxuries  of  the  sort  I  have  ever  enjoyed  ;  and  I  really  quite 
looked  forward  to  the  morning  for  the  pleasure  with  which  I  paid 
my  addresses  to  this  delightful  element.  The  effect  the  water 
produces  on  the  skin  is  very  singular  :  it  is  about  as  warm  as 
milk,  but  infinitely  softer ;  and  after  dipping  the  hand  into  it,  if 
the  thumb  be  rubbed  against  the  fingers,  it  is  said  by  many  to 
resemble  satin.  Nevertheless,  whatever  may  be  its  sensation, 
when  the  reader  reflects  that  people  not  only  come  to  these  baths 
from  Russia,  but  that  the  water  in  stone  bottles,  merely  as  a  cos- 
metic, is  sent  to  St.  Petersburg  and  other  distant  parts  of  Europe, 
he  will  admit  that  it  must  be  soft  indeed  to  have  gained  for  itself 
such  an  extraordinary  degree  of  celebrity :  for  there  is  no  town 
at  Schlangenbad,  not  even  a  village — nothing  therefore  but  the 
real  or  fancied  charm  of  the  water  could  attract  people  into  a 
little  sequestered  valley,  which  in  every  sense  of  the  word  is  out 
of  sight  of  the  civilized  world  ;  and  yet  I  must  say,  that  I  never 
remember  to  have  existed  in  a  place  which  possessed  such  fas- 
cinating beauties ;  besides  which  (to  say  nothing  of  breathing 
pure,  dry  air),  it  is  no  small  pleasure  to  live  in  a  skin  which  puts 
all  people  in  good  humor — at  least,  with  themselves.  But  besides 
the  cosmetic  charms  of  this  water,  it  is  declared  to  possess  virtues 
of  more  substantial  value  :  it  is  said  to  tranquillize  the  nerves,  to 


SCHLANGENBAD ;  OR,  THE  SERPENTS'  BATH.  125 

soothe  all  inflammation  ;  and  from  this  latter  property,  the  cures 
of  consumption  which  are  reported  to  have  been  effected,  among 
human  beings  and  cattle,  may  have  proceeded.  Yet  whatever 
good  effect  the  water  may  have  upon  this  insidious  disorder,  its 
first  operation  most  certainly  must  be  to  neutralize  the  had  effect 
of  the  climate,  which  to  consumptive  patients  must  decidedly  be 
a  very  severe  trial,  for  delightful  as  it  is  to  persons  in  robust 
health,  yet  the  keenness  of  the  mountain  air,  together  with  the 
sudden  alternations  of  temperature  to  which  the  valley  of  Schlan- 
genbad  is  exposed,  must,  I  think,  be  anything  but  a  remedy  for 
weak  lungs. 

The  eflect  produced  upon  the  skin,  by  lying  about  twenty 
minutes  in  the  bath,  I  one  day  happened  to  overhear  a  short,  fat 
Frenchman  describe  to  his  friend  in  the  following  words : — 
••'  Monsieur,  dans  ces  bains  on  devient  aisolumeni  amourcnx  de  soi- 
meme  /"  I  cannot  exactly  corroborate  this  Gallic  statement,  yet 
I  must  admit  that  limbs,  even  old  ones,  gradually  do  appear  as  if 
they  were  converted  into  white  marble.  The  skin  assumes  a  sort 
of  glittering,  phosphoric  brightness,  resembling  very  much  white 
objects,  which,  having  been  thrown  overboard,  in  calm  weather, 
within  the  tropics,  many  of  my  readers  have  probably  watched 
sinking  in  the  ocean,  which  seems  to  blanch  and  illuminate  them 
as  they  descend.  The  effect  is  very  extraordinary,  and  I  know 
not  how  to  account  for  it,  unless  it  be  produced  by  some  prismatic 
refraction,  caused  by  the  peculiar  particles  with  which  the  fluid 
is  impregnated. 

The  Schlangenbad  water  contains  the  muriates  and  carbonates 
of  lime,  soda,  and  magnesia,  with  a  slight  excess  of  carbonic  acid, 
which  holds  the  carbonates  in  solution.  The  celebrated  embel- 
lishment  which  it  produces  on  the  skin,  is,  in  my  opinion,  a  sort 
of  corrosion,  which  removes  tan,  or  any  other  artificial  covering 
that  the  surface  may  have  attained  from  exposure  and  ill-treat- 
ment by  the  sun  and  wind.  In  short,  the  body  is  cleaned  by  it, 
just  as  a  kitchen-maid  scours  her  copper  saucepan :  and  the 
effect  being  evident,  ladies  modestly  approach  it  from  the  most 
distant  parts  of  Europe.  I  am  by  no  means  certain,  however, 
that  they  receive  any  permanent  benefit ;  indeed,  on  the  contrary, 
I  should  think  that  their  skins  would  eventually  become,  if  any- 


]26  BUBBLES. 


thing,  coarser,  from  the  removal  of  a  slight  veil  or  covering,  in- 
tended by  Nature  as  a  protection  to  the  cuticle. 

But  whether  this  water  be  permanently  beneficial  to  ladies  or 
not,  the  softness  it  gives  to  the  whole  body  is  quite  delightful ; 
and  with  two  elements,  air  and  water,  in  perfection,  I  found  that 
I  grew  every  hour  more  and  more  attached  to  the  place. 

On  the  cellar-floor,  or  lower  story  of  my  abode  ("  the  New 
Bad-Haus"),  where  the  baths  are  situated,  there  lived  an  old 
man  and  his  wife,  whose  duty  it  was  to  prepare  the  baths,  and  to 
give  towels,  &c.  I  do  not  know  whether  the  Schlangenbad  wa- 
ters corrode  the  temper  as  well  as  the  skin,  yet  certainly  this  old 
couple  appeared  to  me  continually  quarrelling  ;  and  every  little 
trifle  I  required  for  my  bath,  though  given  to  me  with  the  greatest 
good  will,  seemed  to  form  a  subject  of  jealous  dispute  between 
this  subterranean  pair.  The  old  woman,  however,  invariably 
got  the  best  of  the  argument, — a  triumph  which  I  suspect  pro- 
ceeded more  from  her  physical  than  moral  powers :  in  short,  as 
is  occasionally  the  case,  the  old  gentleman  was  afraid  of  his 
companion ;  and  I  observed  that  his  attitude,  as  he  argued,  very 
much  resembled  that  of  a  cat  in  a  corner,  when  spitting  in  the 
face  of  a  terrier  dog.  Finding  that  they  did  not  work  happily 
together,  I  always  managed  to  prevent  both  of  them  coming  to 
me  at  once .  The  old  woman,  however,  insisted  on  preparing  my 
bath  ;  and,  with  a  great  pole  in  one  hand,  stirring  up  the  water — 
a  thermometer  in  the  other,  and  a  pair  of  spectacles  blinded  with 
steam  on  her  nose,  she  very  good-naturedly  brought  the  tempera- 
ture of  the  water  to  a  proper  degree,  which  is  said  to  be  27  of 
Reaumur. 

After  I  had  had  my  bath,  the  old  wife  being  out  of  the  way,  I 
one  day  paid  a  visit  of  compliment  to  her  husband,  who  had 
shown,  by  many  little  attempted  attentions,  that  he  was,  had  he 
dared,  as  anxious  as  his  partner  to  serve  me.  With  great  delight, 
he  showed  me  several  bottles  full  of  serpents  ;  and  then,  opening 
a  wooden  box,  he  took  out,  as  a  fisherwoman  would  handle  eels, 
some  very  long  ones — one  of  which  (first  looking  over  his  shoulder 
to  see  that  a  certain  personage  was  away)  he  put  upon  a  line,  v.  hich 
she  had  stretched  across  the  room  for  drying  clothes.  In  order, 
I  suppose,  to  demonstrate  to  m.e  that  the  reptile  was  harmless,  he 


SCHLANGENBAD;  OR,  THE  SERPENTS'  BATH.  127 

took  it  ofT  the  rope,  along  which  it  was  moving  very  quickly  ; 
and  without  submitting  his  project  for  my  approbation,  he  sudden- 
ly placed  it  on  my  breast,  along  which  k  crawled,  until,  stretch- 
ing its  long  neck  Avith  half  its  body  into  the  air,  it  held  on,  in  a 
most  singular  manner,  by  a  single  fold  in  the  cloth,  which,  by  a 
sort  of  contortion  of  the  vertebra:,  it  firmly  grasped. 

The  old  man,  apparently  highly  satisfied  with  this  first  act  of 
his  entertainment,  gravely  proceeded  to  show  living  serpents  of 
all  colors  and  sizes, — stulfed  serpents,  and  serpents'  skins — all 
of  which  seemed  very  proper  hobbies  to  amuse  the  long  winter 
evenings  of  the  aged  servant  of  Schlangenbad,  or  the  Serpents' 
Bath.  At  last,  however,  the  fellow's  dry,  blanched,  wrinkled  face 
began  to  smile.  Grinning  as  he  slowly  mounted  on  a  chair,  ho 
took  from  a  high  shelf  a  broad-mouthed,  white  glass  bottle,  and 
then  in  a  sort  of  savage  ecstasy,  pronouncing  the  word  "  Baro- 
MET  !"  he  placed  it  in  my  hands. 

The  bottle  was  about  half  full  of  dirty  water — a  few  dead  flics 
and  crumbs  of  bread  were  at  the  bottom — and  near  the  top  there 
was  a  small  piece  of  thin  wood  which  went  about  half  across  the 
phial.  Upon  this  slender  scaffolding,  its  fishy  eyes  staring  up- 
wards at  a  piece  of  coarse  linen,  which,  being  tied  round  the 
mouth,  served  as  a  cork — the  shrivelled  skin  of  its  under-jaw 
moving  at  every  sweltering  breath  which  it  took — there  sat  a 
large,  speckled,  living  toad  ! 

Like  Sterne's  captive,  he  had  not  by  his  side  ••  a  bundle  of  sticks, 
notched  with  all  the  dismal  days  and  nights  he  had  passed  there  ;"' 
yet  their  sum-total  was  as  clearly  expressed  in  the  unhealthy 
color  of  the  poor  creature's  skin ;  and  certainly,  in  my  life-time, 
I  never  had  seen  what  might  truly  be  called — a  sick  toad. 

It  was  quite  impossible  to  help  pitying  any  living  being,  con- 
fined by  itself  in  so  miserable  a  dungeon.  However,  the  old 
man's  eyes  \\ere  beaming  with  pride  and  delight  at  what  he  con- 
ceived to  be  his  own  ingenuity — and  exclaiming  '•'  Schones 
wetter !"  (fine  weather  !)  he  pointed  to  the  wood-work  on  whicli 
the  poor  creature  was  sitting — and  then  he  exultingly  explained 
that,  so  soon  as  it  should  be  going  to  rain,  the  toad  would  clamber 
down   into  the  water.     "  Baromet  !"  repeated   the   old    fellow, 


128  BUBBLES. 


grinning  from  ear  to  ear,  as,  mounting  on  the  chair,  he  replaced 
his  prisoner  on  the  shelf. 

My  first  impression  w^s  "  co?i/e  qui  coute,'^  to  buy  this  baro- 
meter,— carry  its  poor  captive  to  the  largest  marsh  I  could  find, — 
and  then,  breaking  the  bottle  into  shivers,  to  give  him,  what  toads 
appreciate  so  much  better  than  mankind — liberty  ;  but,  on  re- 
flecting a  moment,  I  felt  quite  sure  that  the  old  inquisitor  would 
soon  procure  another  subject  for  torture  ;  and,  as  with  toads  as 
with  ourselves,  "  c''est  le  premier  pas  qui  coiite,''  I  thought  it  bet- 
ter that  this  poor  heart-broken,  imprisoned  creature,  to  a  certain 
degree  accustomed  to  his  misery,  should  exist  in  it.  than  that  a 
fresh  toad  should  suffer :  it  also  occurred  to  me,  that  if  I  should 
dare  to  purchase  his  rude  instrument,  the  ingenious,  unfeeling  old 
wretch  of  a  philosopher  might  be  encouraged  to  make  others  for 
sale. 

The  old  bath  or  "  bad  "  man  had  vipers'  nests,  their  eggs,  and 
many  other  Caliban  curiosities,  which  he  was  desirous  to  show 
me  ;  but,  having  seen  quite  enough  for  one  morning's  visit,  and 
besides,  hearing  his  v/ife's  tongue  coming  along  the  subterranean 
passage,  I  left  him — her — toad — reptiles,  &c.,  to  fret  away  their 
existence,  while  I  rose  into  far  brighter  regions  above  them. 

After  ascending  a  couple  of  flights  of  stairs,  I  strolled  for  some 
time  on  the  little  parade,  which  is  close  to  the  entrance  of  the  old 
"  Bad-Haus  ;"  but  the  benches  being  all  occupied  by  people  listen- 
ing to  the  band  of  music,  and  besides,  not  liking  the  artificial 
passages  of  hedges  cut,  without  metaphor,  to  the  quick,  I  bade 
adieu  to  the  scene  ;  and,  entering  the  great  forest,  with  which 
the  hills  in  every  direction  were  clothed  to  their  summits,  I 
ascended  a  steep,  broad  road  (across  which  a  couple  of  schlan- 
gens  glided  close  by  me),  until  I  came  to  a  hut,  from  which  there 
is  a  very  pleasing  home- view  of  the  little  valley  of  Schlangenbad. 
It  is  certainly  a  most  romantic  spot,  and  that  it  had  appeared  so 
to  others  was  evident,  from  a  marble  pillar  and  inscription  which 
stood  on  the  edge  of  a  precipice  before  me.  The  tale  it  com- 
memorated is  simply  beautiful.  The  Count  de  Grunne,  the  Dutch 
Ambassador  at  Frankfurt,  having  in  the  healthy  autumn  of  his 
life  come  to  Schlangenbad,  with  his  young  wife,  was  so  enchanted 
with  the  loveliness  of  the  country,  the  mildness  of  the  air,  and  the 


SCHLAXGENEAD;  OR,  THE  SERPENTS'  BATH.  129 


exquisite  softness  of  the  water,  that,  quite  unable  to  contain  him- 
self, on  a  black  marble  column  he  caused  to  be  sculptured,  as 
emblems  of  himself  and  his  companion,  two  crested  schlangens, 
playfully  eating  leaves  (apparently  a  salad)  out  of  the  same 
bowl — with  the  following  patlietic  inscription  : — 

EN 

RECOXA-OISSANCE 

DES    DELICIEUSES    SAISONS 

PASSEES    ICI    ENSEMBLE 

PAR 

CHARLES  C^e  DE  GRUNNE 

ET 

BETSI  Desse  DE  GRUNNE. 

1830. 

Leaving  this  quiet  sentimental  bower,  and  descending  the  hill, 
1  entered  the  great  pile  of  buildings  of  the  old  Bad-Haus,  or 
Nassauer-Hof,  and  as  I  was  advancing  along  one  of  its  endless 
passages,  I  passed  an  open  door,  from  which  a  busy  hum  pro- 
ceeded, which  clearly  proclaimed  it  to  be  a  school.  My  grave 
Mentor-like  figure  was  no  sooner  observed  silently  standing  at  its 
portal,  than  its  master,  a  short,  slight,  hectic-looking  lad,  scarcely 
twenty,  seemed  to  feel  an  unaccountable  desire  to  form  my  ac- 
quaintance. Begging  me  to  enter  his  small  literary  dominion,  he 
very  modestly  requested  leave  to  be  permitted  to  explain  to  me 
the  nature  of  the  studies  he  was  imparting  to  his  subjects,  the  lit- 
tle creatures,  from  their  benches,  looking  at  me  all  the  time  with 
the  same  sort  of  fear  with  which  mice  look  into  the  face  of  a  bull- 
dog, or  frogs  at  the  terrific  bill  and  outline  of  a  stork. 

Having,  by  a  slight  inclination,  accepted  'this  offer,  the  young 
Dominie  commenced  by  stating  tliat  all  the  children  in  Nassau  are 
ohliged,  by  order  of  the  Duke,  to  go  to  school,  from  six  to  fourteen 
years  of  age  ; — that  the  parents  of  a  child,  who  has  intentionally 
missed,  are  forced  to  pay  two  kreuzers  the  first  time,  four  the 
second,  six  the  third,  and  that  if  they  are  too  poor  to  pay  these 
fines,  they  are  obliged  to  work  them  out  in  hard  labor,  or  are 
10 


130  BUBBLES. 


Otherwise  punished  for  their  children's  neglect ; — that  the  inhabit- 
ants of  each  village  pay  the  schoolmaster  among  themselves,  in 
proportions,  varying  according  to  their  means,  but  that  the  Duke 
prescribes  what  the  children  are  to  learn — namely,  religion,  sing- 
ing, reading,  writing.  Scripture  history,  the  German  language, 
natural  history,  geography,  and  accounts  ; — and  that  the  mode  of 
imparting  this  education  is  grounded  upon  the  system  of  Pes- 
talozzi. 

This  introductory  explanation  being  concluded,  the  young 
master  now  displayed  to  me  specimens  of  his  scholars'  Avriting — 
showed  me  their  slates  covered  with  sums  in  the  first  rules  of 
arithmetic — and  then  calling  up  several  girls  and  boys,  he  placed 
his  wand  in  the  hand  of  each  trembling  little  urchin,  who  one  by 
one  was  desired  to  point  out  upon  maps,  which  hung  against  the 
walls,  the  great  oceans,  seas,  mountains,  and  capitals  of  our  globe. 
Having  expressed  my  unqualified  approbation  of  the  zeal  and  at- 
tention with  which  this  excellent  young  man  had  evidently  been 
laboring,  at  the  arduous,  "  never-ending,  still  beginning  "  duties 
of  his  life,  I  was  about  to  depart,  when,  as  a  last  favor,  he  anx- 
iously entreated  me  to  hear  his  children,  for  one  moment,  sing  • 
and  striking  the  table  with  his  wand,  it  instantly,  as  if  it  had  been 
a  tuning  fork,  called  them  to  attention — at  a  second  blow  on  the 
table,  they  pushed  aside  their  slates  and  books — at  a  third,  open- 
ing their  eyes  as  wide  as  they  could,  they  inflated  their  tiny  lungs 
brimfuU — and  at  a  fourth  blow,  in  full  cry,  they  all  opened,  to  my 
no  small  astonishment,  mouths  which,  in  blackness  of  inside, 
exactly  resembled  a  pack  of  King  Charles's  spaniels !  Had  the 
children  been  drinking  ink,  their  tongues  and  palates  could  not 
have  been  darker ;  and  though,  accompanied  by  their  master, 
the  psalm  they  were  singing  was  simply  beautiful,  and  though 
their  infantine  voices  streaming  along  the  endless  passages  pro- 
duced a  reverberation  which  was  exceedingly  pleasing,  yet  there 
was  something  so  irresistibly  comic  in  their  appearance,  that  any 
countenance  but  my  own  would  have  smiled. 

The  cause  of  the  odd-looking  phenomenon  suddenly  occurred  to 
me,  having,  in  the  morning,  observed  several  peasants,  whose 
trowsers  at  the  knees  were  stained  perfectly  black,  by  their  having 
knelt  down  to  pick  bilberries,  which  grew  on  the  forest-covered 


SCHLANGENBAD;  OR,  THE  SERPENTS'  BATH.  131 

hills  of  Nassau  in  the  greatest  profusion.  The  children  had  evi- 
dently been  grazing  on  the  same  ground,  and  as  soon  as  the  idea 
occurred,  I  observed  by  their  little  black  fingers  that  my  solution 
of  the  dark  problem  was  correct. 

Returning  to  my  residence,  the  New  Bad-Haus,  the  sun,  though 
much  less  weary  than  myself,  having  sunk  to  rest,  I  sat  alone  for 
some  time  in  one  of  the  bowers  of  the  shrubbery  belonging  to  the 
building.  Occasionally  a  human  figure,  scarcely  visible  from  the 
deep  shade  of  the  trees,  glided  slowly  by  me,  but  whether  that  of 
a  prince  or  a  peasant  I  neither  knew  nor  cared.  What  interested 
me  infinitely  more,  was  to  observe  the  fire-flies,  which,  with  small 
lanterns  in  their  tails,  were  either  soaring  close  above  me,  or 
sparkling  among  the  bushes.  The  bright  emerald-green  light 
which  they  possessed  was  lovely  beyond  description,  yet  appa- 
rently they  had  only  received  permission  to  display  it  so  long  as 
they  remained  on  the  wing — and  as  two  young  ones,  gliding  be- 
fore me,  rested  for  a  moment  on  a  rose-leaf,  at  my  side,  the  in- 
stant they  closed  their  wings,  they  were  left  together  in  total 
darkness.  Some  (probably  old  ones)  steadily  sailing,  passed  me, 
as  if  on  business,  while  others,  dancing  in  the  air,  had  evidently 
no  object  except  pleasure  ;  yet,  whether  flying  in  a  circle,  or  in  a 
line,  each  little  creature,  as  it  proceeded,  gaily  illuminated  its 
own  way,  and  like  a  pure,  cheerful,  well-conditioned  mind,  it  also 
shed  a  trifling  lustre  on  whatever  it  approached. 

As  I  sat  here  alone  in  the  dark,  I  could  not  drive  from  my  mind 
the  interesting  picture  I  had  just  been  witnessing  in  the  little  vil- 
lage school  of  Schlangenbad. 

We  are  all,  in  England,  so  devotedly  attached  to  that  odd,  easily 
pronounced,  but  difficult  to  be  defined  word — liberty,  that  there  is, 
perhaps,  nothing  we  should  all  at  once  set  our  backs,  our  faces, 
and  our  heads  against  more,  than  a  national  compulsory  system  of 
education,  similar  to  that  prescribed  in  Nassau  ;  and  yet,  if  law 
has  the  power  to  punish  crime,  there  seems  at  first  to  exist  no 
very  strong  reason  why  it  should  not  also  be  permitted,  by  educa- 
tion, to  prevent  it.  Every  respectable  parent  in  our  country  will 
be  ready  to  admit,  that  the  most  certain  recipe  for  making  liis  son 
a  useful,  a  happy,  and  a  valuable  member  of  society,  is  carefully 
to  attend  to  the  cultivation  of  his  mind.    We  all  believe  that  good 


132  BUBBLES. 


seeds  can  be  sown  there,  that  bad  ones  can  be  eradicated — that 
ignorance  leads  a  child  to  error  and  crime — that  his  mental  dark- 
ness, like  a  town,  can  be  illuminated — that  the  judgment  (his  only- 
weapon  against  his  passions)  can,  like  the  blacksmith's  arm,  by 
use,  be  strengthened ;  and  if  it  be  thus  universally  admitted  that 
education  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  properties  a  rational  being 
can  bequeath  to  his  own  child,  it  would  seem  to  follow  that  a  pa- 
rental government  might  claim  (at  least  before  Heaven)  nearly 
as  much  right  to  sentence  a  child  to  education,  as  a  criminal  to 
the  gallows.  Nevertheless,  as  a  curious  example  of  the  differ- 
ence in  national  taste,  it  may  be  observed,  that  though  in  England 
judges  and  juries  can  anywhere  be  found  to  condemn  the  body, 
they  would  everywhere  be  observed  to  shrink  at  the  very  idea  of 
chastening  the  mind ;  they  see  no  moral  or  religious  objection  to 
imprison  the  former,  but  they  all  agree  that  it  would  be  a  political 
offence  to  liberate  the  latter.  Although  our  poor  laws  oblige 
every  parish  to  feed,  house,  and  clothe  its  offspring,  yet  in  Eng- 
land it  is  thought  wrong  to  enforce  any  national  provision  for  the 
mind  ;  and  yet  the  Duke  of  Nassau  might  argue,  that  in  a  civi- 
lized community  children  have  no  more  natural  right  to  be  brought 
up  ignorant  than  naked :  in  short,  that  if  the  mildest  govern- 
ment be  justified  in  forcing  a  man,  for  decency's  sake,  to  envelope 
his  body,  it  might  equally  claim  the  power  of  obliging  him,  for 
the  welfare,  prosperity,  and  advancement  of  the  community — to 
develope  his  mind. 

Into  so  complicated  an  argument  I  feel  myself  quite  incompe- 
tent to  enter,  yet  were  I  at  this  moment  to  be  leaving  this  world, 
there  is  no  one  assertion  I  think  I  could  more  solemnly  maintain 
— there  is  no  important  fact  I  am  more  seriously  convinced  of — 
and  there  is  no  evidence  which,  from  the  observation  of  my  whole 
life,  I  could  more  conscientiously  deliver,  than  that,  as  far  as  I 
have  been  capable  of  judging,  our  system  of  education  in  Eng- 
land has  produced,  does  produce,  and  as  long  as  it  be  persisted  in, 
must  produce,  the  most  lamentable  political  effects. 

Strange  as  it  may  sound,  I  believe  few  people  will,  on  reflec- 
tion, deny  that  a  most  remarkable  difference  exists  between  a 
man  and  what  is  termed  mankind — in  fact,  between  the  intelli- 


SCHLANGENBAD ;  OR,  THE  SERPENTS'  BATH.  133 

gence   of  the  Imman  being  and  that  of  the  species  to  which  he 
belongs. 

If  a  man  of  common,  or  of  the  commonest  abilities,  be  watch- 
ed throughout  a  day,  it  is  quite  delightful  to  remark  how  cleverly 
he  adapts  his  conduct  to  the  various  trifling  unforeseen  circum- 
stances which  occur — how  shrewdly,  as  through  a  labyrinth,  he 
pursues  his  own  interests,  and  with  what  nimbleness  he  can  alter 
his  plans,  or,  as  it  is  vulgarly  termed,  change  his  mind,  the  in- 
stant it  becomes  advisable  for  him  to  do  so.  Appeal  to  him  on 
any  plain  subject,  and  you  find  him  gifted  with  quick  perception, 
possessed  with  ready  judgment,  and  with  his  mind  sparkling  with 
intelligence.  Now,  mix  a  dozen  such  men  together,  and  intellect 
instantly  begins  to  coagulate  ;  in  short,  by  addition  you  have  pro- 
duced subtraction.  One  man  means  what  he  cannot  clearly  ex- 
plain— another  ably  expresses  what  he  did  not  exactly  mean — 
one,  while  disputing  his  neighbor's  judgment,  neglects  his  own — 
another  indolently  reclines  his  head  upon  his  neighbor's  brain — 
one  does  not  care  to  see — another  forgets  to  foresee — in  short, 
though  any  one  pilot  could  steer  the  vessel  into  port,  with  twelve 
at  the  helm  she  inevitably  runs  upon  the  rocks.  Now,  instead  of 
a  dozen  men,  if  anything  be  committed  to  the  care,  judgment,  or 
honor  of  a  large  body,  or,  as  it  is  not  improperly  termed,  a  '•'  cor- 
poration "  of  men,  their  torpor,  apathy,  and  sloth  are  indefinitely 
increased,  and  when,  instead  of  a  corporation,  it  be  left  to  that 
nonentity,  a  whole  nation — the  total  neglect  it  meets  with  is  be- 
yond all  remedy.  In  short,  the  individuals  of  a  community, 
compared  with  the  community  itself,  are  like  a  swarm  of  bees, 
compared  with  bees  that  have  swarmed  or  clung  together  in  a 
lump,  and  as  the  countryman  stands  shaking  the  dull  mass  from 
the  bough,  one  can  scarcely  believe  that  it  is  composed  of  little, 
active,  intelligent,  busy  creatures,  each  armed  with  a  sting  as 
well  as  with  knowledge,  and  arrangements  which  one  can  hardly 
sufficiently  admire.  If  this  theory  be  correct,  it  will  account  at 
once  for  our  unfortunate  system  of  education  in  England,  which 
being  everybody's  duty,  is  therefore  nobody's  duty,  and  which, 
like 

"  The  child  whom  many  fathers  share, 
Has  never  known  a  father's  care." 


134  BUBBLES. 


In  the  evening  of  a  long,  toilsome  life,  if  a  man  were  to  be 
obliged  solemnly  to  declare  what,  without  any  exception,  has  been 
the  most  lovely  thing  which  on  the  surface  of  this  earth  it  has 
been  his  good  fortune  to  witness,  I  conceive  that,  without  hesita- 
tion, he  might  reply — The  mind  of  a  young  child.  Indeed,  if  we 
believe  that  creation,  with  all  its  charms,  was  beneficently  made 
for  man,  it  seems  almost  to  follow  that  his  mind,  that  mirror  in 
which  every  minute  object  is  to  be  reflected,  must  be  gifted  with  a 
polish  sufficiently  high  to  enable  it  to  receive  the  lovely  and 
delicate  images  created  for  its  enjoyment.  Accordingly,  we  ob- 
serve  with  what  delight  a  child  beholds  light — colors — flowers — 
fruit — and  every  new  object  that  meets  his  eye  ;  and  we  all  know 
that  before  his  judgment  be  permitted  to  interfere,  for  many  years 
he  feels,  or  rather  suffers,  a  thirst  for  information  which  is  almost 
insatiable. 

He  desires,  and  very  naturally  desires,  to  know  what  the  moon 
is  ?  what  are  the  stars  ? — where  the  rain,  wind,  and  storm  come 
from  ?  With  innocent  simplicity  he  asks,  what  becomes  of  the 
light  of  a  candle  when  it  is  blown  out  ?  Any  story  or  any  his- 
tory he  greedily  devours  ;  and  so  strongly  does  his  youthful  mind 
retain  every  sort  of  image  impressed  upon  it,  that  it  is  well  known 
his  after  life  is  often  incapable  of  obliterating  the  terror  depicted 
there  by  an  old  nurse's  tale  of  ghosts,  and  hobgoblins  of  dark- 
ness. 

Now  with  their  minds  in  this  pure,  healthy,  voracious  state,  the 
sons  of  all  our  noblest  families,  and  of  the  most  estimable  people 
of  the  country,  are,  after  certain  preparations,  eventually  sent  to 
those  slaughter-houses  of  the  understanding,  our  public  schools, 
where,  weaned  from  the  charms  of  the  living  world,  they  are 
nailed  to  the  study  of  two  dead  languages — like  galley-slaves, 
they  are  chained  to  these  oars,  and  are  actually  flogged  if  they 
neglect  to  labor.  Instead  of  imbibing  knowledge  suited  to  their 
youtliful  age,  they  are  made  to  learn  the  names  of  Actscon's 
liounds — to  study  the  life  of  Alexander's  horse — to  know  the  fate  of 
Alcibiades's  dog ; — in  short,  it  is  too  well  known  that  Dr.  Lem- 
priere  made  3000/.  a-year  by  the  sale  of  a  dictionary,  in  which  he 
had  amassed,  "  for  the  use  of  schools,"  tales  and  rubbish  of  this 
description.     The  poor  boy  at  last  "gets,"  as  it  is  termed,  "  into 


SCHLANGENBAD ;  OR,  THE  SERPENTS'  BATH.  135 


Ovid,"  \\iiere  he  is  made  to  study  everything  which  human  inge- 
nuity could  invent  to  sully,  degrade,  and  ruin  the  mind  of  a  young 
person.  The  Almighty  Creator  of  the  universe  is  caricatured  by 
a  set  of  grotesque  personages,  termed  gods  and  goddesses,  so 
grossly  sensual,  so  inordinately  licentious,  that  were  they  to-day 
to  appear  in  London,  before  sunset  they  would  probably  be  every 
one  of  them  where  they  ought  to  be — at  the  tread-mill.  The  poor 
boy,  however,  must  pore  over  all  their  amours,  natural  and  unna- 
tural ; — he  must  learn  by  heart  the  birth,  parentage,  and  educa- 
tion of  each,  with  the  biography  of  their  numerous  offspring, 
earthly  as  well  as  unearthly.  He  must  study  love-letters  from 
the  heavens  to  the  earth,  and  metamorphoses  which  have  almost 
all  some  low,  impure  object.  The  only  geography  he  learns  is 
"the  world  known  to  the  ancients."'  Although  a  member  of  the 
first  maritime  nation  on  the  globe,  he  learns  no  nautical  science 
but  that  possessed  by  people  who  scarcely  dared  to  leave  their 
shores  :  all  his  knowledge  of  military  life  is  that  childish  picture 
of  it  which  might  fairly  be  entitled  "  war  without  gunpowder." 
But  even  the  little  which  on  these  subjects  he  does  learn,  is  so 
mixed  up  with  fable;  that  his  mind  gets  puzzled  and  debilitated  to 
such  a  degree,  that  he  becomes  actually  unable  to  distinguish 
truth  from  falsehood  ;  and  when  he  reads  that  Hannibal  melted 
the  Alps  with  vinegar,  he  does  not  know  whether  it  be  really  true 
or  not. 

In  this  degraded  state,  with  the  energy  and  curiosity  of  their 
young  minds  blunted — actually  nauseating  the  intellectual  food 
which  they  had  once  so  naturally  desired,  a  whole  batch  of  boys 
at  the  age  of  about  fourteen*  are  released  from  their  schools  to  go 
on  board  men-of-war,  where  they  are  to  strive  to  become  the 
heroes  of  their  day.  They  sail  from  their  country  ignorant  of 
almost  everything  that  has  happened  to  it  since  the  days  of  the 

*  At  this  age  I  myself  left  my  classical  school,  scarcely  knowing  the 
name  of  a  single  river  in  the  new  world— tired  almost  to  death  of  the  history 
of  the  Ilissus.  In  after  life  I  entered  a  river  of  America  more  than  five  times 
as  broad  as  from  Dover  to  Calais — and  with  respect  to  the  Ilissus,  which 
had  received  in  my  mind  such  distorted  importance,  I  will  only  say,  that 
I  have  repeatedly  walked  across  it  in  about  twenty  seconds,  without  wetting 
my  ankles. 


136  BUBBLES. 


Romans — having  been  obliged  to  look  upon  all  the  phenomena  of 
nature,  as  well  as  the  mysteries  of  art,  witliout  explanation,  their 
curiosity  for  information  on  such  subjects  has  subsided.  They 
lean  against  the  capstan,  but  know  nothing  of  its  power — they  are 
surrounded  by  mechanical  contrivances  of  every  sort,  but  under- 
stand  them  no  more  than  they  do  the  stars  in  the  firmament. 
They  steer  from  one  country  to  another,  ignorant  of  the  customs, 
manners,  prejudices,  or  languages  of  any  ;  they  know  nothing  of 
the  effect  of  climate — it  requires  almost  a  fever  to  drive  them  from 
the  sun  ;  in  fact,  they  possess  no  practical  knowledge.  The  first 
lesson  they  learn  from  adversity  is  their  own  guiltless  ignorance, 
and  no  sooner  are  they  in  real  danger,  than  they  discover  how  ill 
spent  has  been  the  time  they  have  devoted  to  the  religion  of  the 
heathen — how  vain  it  is  in  affliction  to  patter  over  the  names  of 
Actason  and  his  hounds  ! 

That  in  spite  of  all  these  disadvantages,  a  set  of  high-bred, 
noble-spirited  young  men  eventually  become,  as  they  really  do, 
an  honor  to  their  country,  is  no  proof  that  their  early  education 
has  not  done  all  in  its  power  to  prevent  them.  But,  to  return  to 
those  we  left  at  our  public  schools. 

As  these  boys  rise,  they  become,  as  we  all  kno^^■,  more  and 
more  conversant  in  the  dead  languages,  until  the  fatal  period 
arrives,  when,  proudly  laden  with  these  two  panniers,  they  proceed 
to  one  of  our  universities.  Arriving,  for  instance,  at  Oxford,  they 
find  a  splendid  high  street,  magnificently  illuminated  with  gas, 
filled  with  handsome  shops,  traversed  by  the  mail,  macadamized, 
and,  like  every  other  part  of  our  great  commei'cial  country, 
beaming  with  modern  intelligence.  In  this  street,  however,  they 
are  not  permitted  to  reside,  but,  conducted  to  the  right  and  left, 
they  meander  among  mouldering  monastic-looking  buildings,  until 
they  reach  the  cloisters  of  the  particular  college  to  vvhich  they  are 
sentenced  to  belong.  By  an  ill-judged  misnomer,  they  are  from 
this  moment  encouraged,  even  by  their  preceptors,  to  call  each 
other  men  ;  and  a  man  of  seventeen,  "too  tall  for  school,"  talks 
of  another  man  of  eighteen,  as  gravely  as  I  always  mention  the 
name  of  my  prototype  Methuselah.  What  their  studies  are  will 
sufficiently  appear  from  what  is  required  of  them,  when  they  come 
before  the  public  as  candidates  for  their  den:rees.     At  this  exami- 


SCHLANGENBAD;  OR,  THE  SERPENTS'  BATH.  137 

nation,  which  is  to  give  them,  throughout  their  country,  the  rank 
of  finished  scholars,  these  self-entitled  men  are  gravely  examined 
first  of  all  in  Divinity, — and  then,  as  if  in  scorn  of  it,  almost  in  the 
same  breath,  they  descant  about  the  God  of  this  vice,  and  the  God 
of  that;  in  short,  they  are  obliged  to  translate  any  two  heathen 
authors  in  Latin,  and  any  other  two  in  Greek,  they  themselves 
may  select.  They  are  next  examined  in  Aristotle's  moral  philoso- 
phy, and  their  examination,  like  their  education,  being  now  con- 
cluded, their  minds  being  now  decreed  to  be  brimfull,  they  are 
launched  into  their  respective  grades  of  society,  as  accomplished, 
polished  men,  who  have  reaped  the  inestimable  advantages  of  a 
good  classical  education.  But  it  is  not  these  gentlemen  I  presume 
to  ridicule ;  on  the  contrary,  I  firmly  believe  that  the  1200  stu- 
dents, who  at  one  time  are  generally  at  Oxford,  are  as  high- 
minded,  as  highly  talented,  as  anxious  to  improve  themselves,  as 
handsome,  and,  in  every  sense  of  the  word,  as  fine  a  set  of  lads 
as  can  anywhere  be  met  with  in  a  body  on  the  face  of  the  globe. 
I  also  know  that  all  our  most  estimable  characters,  all  the  most 
enlightened  men  our  country  has  ever  produced,  have,  generally 
speaking,  been  members  of  one  of  our  universities ;  but,  in  spite 
of  all  this,  will  any  reasonable  being  seriously  maintain  that  the 
workmanship  has  been  equal  to  the  materials  ?  I  mean,  that  their 
education  has  been  equal  to  themselves  ? 

Let  any  one  weigh  what  they  have  not  learnt  against  what 
they  have,  and  he  will  find  that  the  difference  is  exactly  that 
which  exists  between  creation  itself  and  a  satchel  of  musty  books. 
I  own  they  are  skilfully  conversant  in  the  latter ;  I  own  that  they 
have  even  deserved  prizes  for  having  made  verses  in  imitation  of 
Sappho — odes  in  imitation  of  Horace — epigrams  after  the  model 
of  the  Anthologia,  as  well  as  after  the  mode  of  Martial  ;  but  what 
has  the  university  taught  them  of  the  former  ?  Has  it  even  in- 
formed them  of  the  discovery  of  America  ?  Has  it  given  them 
the  power  of  conversing  with  the  peasant  of  any  one  nation  in 
Europe  ?  Has  it  explained  to  them  any  one  of  the  wonderful 
works  of  creation  ?  Has  it  taught  them  a  single  invention  of  art  ? 
Has  it  shown  the  young  landed  proprietor  how  to  measure  the 
smallest  field  on  his  estate  ?  Has  it  taught  him  even  the  first 
rudiments  of  economy  ?     Has  it  explained  to  him  the  principle  of 


13S  BUBBLES. 


a  common  pump  ?  Has  it  fitted  him  in  any  way  to  stand  in  that 
distinguished  situation  which  by  birth  and  fortune  he  is  honestly 
entitled  to  hold  ?  Has  it  given  him  any  agricultural  information, 
any  commercial  knowledge,  any  acquaintance  with  mankind,  or 
with  business  of  any  sort  or  kind ;  and  lastly,  has  it  made  him 
modestly  sensible  of  his  own  ignorance  ? — or  has  it,  on  the  con- 
trary, done  all  in  its  power  to  make  him  feel  not  only  perfectly 
satisfied  with  his  own  acquirements,  but  contempt  for  those  whose 
minds  are  only  filled  with  plain  useful  knowledge  ? 

But  it  will  be  proudly  argued,  "  The  University  has  taught 
HIM  Divinity  V  In  theory,  I  admit  it  may  have  done  so ;  but, 
in  all  his  terms,  has  the  student  practically  learnt  as  much  of 
Omnipotence  as  the  hurricane  could  explain  to  him  in  five 
minutes  ?  To  teach  young  lads  the  simple  doctrines  of  Christi- 
anity, is  it  advisable  to  hide  from  their  minds  creation  ?  Is  it 
advisable  to  allow  them  to  remain  out  of  their  colleges  till  mid- 
night ?  But  taking  leave  of  the  university,  let  us,  for  a  moment, 
consider  the  political  effects  of  its  cramped,  short-sighted,  narrow, 
minded  system. 

On  quitting  their  colleges,  our  young  men,  instead  of  being 
sensible  that,  although  they  have  read  much  that  is  ornamental, 
their  education  has  scrupulously  avoided  all  that  is  useful — 
instead  of  modestly  feeling  that  they  have  to  make  up  for  lost 
time,  and  to  fight  their  way  from  nothing  to  distinction,  like  sub- 
altern officers  in  our  army,  or  like  midshipmen  in  the  navy,  they 
have  very  great  reason  to  consider  that,  far  from  being  literary 
vessels,  rudely  put  together,  they  are  launched  into  society  as 
perfect  as  a  frigate  from  its  dock  ! 

With  respect  to  the  drudgery  of  gaining  honors,  they  feel  that 
they  already  possess  them,  can  produce  them,  and  true  enough, 
they  show  1st  class,  2nd  class,  and  3rd  class  honors,  which  are 
as  current  in  the  country  as  the  coin  of  the  realm  ;  and  with 
respect  to  their  education  being  imperfect,  by  universal  consent,  it 
has  for  centuries  been  coupled  with  the  most  flattering  adjectives  ; 
— it  is  termed  polite — elegant — accomplished — good — complete — 
excellent — regular — classical,  &c.,  &c.  In  literary  creation  these 
young  men  conceive  that  they  are  luminaries,  not  specks — orna- 
ments, not  blemishes  !  not  merely  in  their  own  opinions,   but   by 


t 

SCHLANGENBAD ;  OR,  THE  SERPENTS'  BATH.  139 

universal  consent  and  acclamation.  Their  political  place  is  unde- 
niably, therefore,  the  helm,  not  before  tlie  mast ;  they  are  to  guide, 
conduct,  steer  the  vessel  of  the  state,  not  ignobly  labor  at  its  oar ! 

Accordinsjly,  when  they  take  their  places  in  both  houses  of 
Parliament,  plunging  at  once  into  their  own  native  element,  they 
rise  up  in  the  immediate  presence  of  noblemen  and  gentlemen  who 
not  only  boast  of  having  received  exactly  the  same  education  as 
themselves,  but  who,  as  youths,  have  proudly  won  the  self-same 
honors  which  they  enjoy  ;  and  I  here  very  humbly  beg  leave  again 
to  repeal,  that  because  our  Parliament  maintains,  and  always  has 
maintained,  a  front  rank  of  men  of  undaunted  resolution,  tran- 
scendant  abilities,  brilliant  natural  genius,  and  clear,  comprehen- 
sive,  enlightened  minds,  it  does  not  follow  that  the  system  of  our 
public  schools  and  universities  must  necessarily  be  practically 
good.  On  the  contrary,  it  only  proves  that  human  institutions 
can  no  more  extinguish  the  native  virtue,  talent,  and  integrity  of 
a  country,  than  they  can  hide  from  the  world  the  light  of  the  sun  ; 
but  education  can  misdirect,  though  it  cannot  annihilate  ;  it  can 
give  the  national  mind  a  hankering  for  unwholesome  instead  of 
wholesome  food, — it  can  encourage  a  passion  for  useless  instead 
of  useful  information.  On  its  course  high-bred  lads  may  be 
trained  to  race  against  each  other,  until  the  vain  object  they  have 
strived  for  can  never  in  after-life  re-appear,  but  their  blood  warms 
within  them. 

Now  supposing,  for  a  single  moment,  that  English  education  be 
admitted  to  be  as  useless  and  dangerous  as  I  have  endeavored  to 
describe  it,  let  us  consider  what  might  naturally  be  expected  to  be 
its  practical  political  effects. 

In  our  two  houses  of  Parliament,  classical  eloquence  would 
unavoidably  become  the  order  of  the  day,  and  classical  allusions, 
when  neatly  expressed,  would  always  receive  that  heartfelt 
cheer  which  even  the  oldest  among  us  are  unable  to  withhold 
from  v.hat  reminds  us  of  the  pleasures  and  attachments  of  our 
early  days.  Thus  encouraged,  young  statesmen  would  feel  their 
power  rather  than  their  inexperience  ;  and,  with  their  minds  stored 
with  knowledge  declared  to  possess  intrinsic  value,  they  would 
not  be  very  backward  in  displaying  it.  Language,  rather  than 
matter,  would  thus    become  the   object  of  emulation — speeches 


140  BUBBLES. 


would  swell  into  orations — and,  in  this  contention  and  conflict  of 
genius,  men  of  cleverness,  ready  wit,  brilliant  imagination,  reten- 
tive memory,  caustic  reply,  and  last,  though  not  least,  soundness 
of  constitution,  would  rise  to  the  surface,  far  above  those  who, 
with  much  deeper  reflection,  much  heavier  sense,  more  sterling 
knowledge,  and  more  powerful  judgment,  were  yet  found  to  be 
wanting  in  activity  in  their  parts  of  speech.  Bafiied,  therefore,  in 
their  laconic  attempts  to  expound  their  uninteresting,  ledger-like, 
unfashionable  opinions,  this  useful  class  of  men  would  probably, 
by  silence  or  otherwise,  retire  from  the  unequal  contest,  which 
would  become  more  and  more  of  an  art,  until  extraordinary  talent 
was  required  to  carry  political  questions  so  plain  and  simple,  that 
were  votes  to  be  given  by  any  set  of  humdrum  men,  there  would 
scarcely  be  a  difference  in  their  opinions. 

In  the  midst  of  this  civil  war,  a  young  man,  scarcely  one-and- 
twenty,  would  be  very  likely  rapidly  to  rise  to  be  the  Prime 
Minister  of  our  great  commercial  country  !  for  although,  if  this 
world  teaches  us  any  one  moral,  it  is,  that  youth  and  inexperience 
are  synonymous ;  yet  when  talent  only  be  the  palm,  surely  none 
have  better  right  to  contend  for  it  than  the  young  ! 

Seated  on  the  exalted  pinnacle  which  he  has  most  fairly  and 
honorably  attained,  if  not  by  general  acclamation,  at  least  by  the 
applauding  voice  of  the  majority,  he  must,  of  course,  stand 
against  the  intellectual  tempest  which  has  unnaturally  brought  a 
person  of  his  age  to  the  surface.  Accordingly,  by  the  main 
strength  of  his  youthful  genius,  by  his  admitted  superiority  of 
talent,  this  beardless  pilot  would  probably  triumphantly  maintain 
his  place  at  the  helm — requiring,  however,  support  from  those  of 
his  admirers  most  approaching  in  eloquence  to  himself.  To 
obtain  the  services  of  some  great  orator,  he  would  ( copying  the 
system  of  his  opponents)  be  induced  to  appoint  a  man,  for  instance, 
Secretary  for  the  Colonies,  who  on  this  earth  had  never  reached 
the  limits  even  of  its  temperate  zone ;  another,  who  had  not  heard 
a  shot  fired,  or  even  seen  a  shell  in  the  air,  would,  perhaps,  be 
created  Master-General  of  our  Ordnance  ;  in  short,  talent  being 
the  weapon  or  single-stick  of  Parliament,  he  would,  like  others 
before  him,  arm  himself  with  it  at  any  cost,  and  thus  reign 
triumphant. 


SCHLANGENBAD :  OR.  THE  SERPENTS'  BATH.  141 


However,  without  supposing  such  an  extreme  case,  let  us 
fearlessly  recall  to  mind  a  miserable  fact  almost  of  yesterday. 
In  the  fatal  year  1825,  the  British  government  conceived  the 
purely  classical  and  highly  poetical  idea  of  "  bringing  a  new 
world  into  existence !"  Most  people  will  remember  with  what 
flowery  eloquence  the  elegant  project  was  laid  before  Parliament, 
and  how  loudly  and  generally  it  was  cheered — the  blind  were 
led  by  the  blind — all  our  senators  being  equally  charmed  at  the 
splendid  possibility  of  their  thus  politically  dabbling  in  creation. 
The  truth  or  moral,  however,  came  upon  us  at  last,  like  the 
simoom  upon  the  traveller  who  ignorantly  ventures  on  the  deserts 
of  Africa.  The  country  almost  foundered,  and  though  she  has  to 
a  certain  degree  recovered  from  the  shock,  yet  thousands  of 
widows,  orphans,  and  people  of  small  incomes,  are  to  this  day,  in 
indigence  and  sorrow,  secretly  lamenting  the  hour  in  which  the 
high-flown  but  ignorant  parliamentary  project  was  disseminated. 

The  charity,  pater-noster  system  of  education  pursued  to  this 
day  at  our  universities  and  public  schools  has  produced  other  his- 
torical facts,  which  it  is  now  equally  out  of  our  power  to  oblite- 
rate, atone  for,  or  deny.  For  instance,  we  all  know  that  in  five 
years  Charles  II.  touched  23,601  of  his  subjects  for  the  evil : — 
that  our  bishops  invented  (just  as  Ovid  wrote  his  "  Metamor- 
phoses") a  sort  of  heathen  service  for  the  occasion  ; — tliat  the 
unchristianlike,  superstitious  ceremony  was  performed  in  public  ; 
and  that  as  soon  as  prayers  were  ended,  we  are  told,  "  The  Duke 
of  Buckingham  brought  a  towel,  and  the  Earl  of  Pembroke  a  basin 
and  ewer,  who,  after  they  had  made  obeisance  to  his  Majesty,  kneeled 
down  till  his  Majesty  had  washed."" 

Again,  everybody  knows  that  Amy  Drury  and  her  daughter, 
eleven  years  of  age,  were  tried  before  "  the  great  and  good  Sir 
Matthew  Hale,"  then  Lord  Chief  Baron,  for  witchcraft,  and  were 
convicted  and  executed  at  Bury  St.  Ednmnd's  principally  on  the 
evidence  of  Sir  Thomas  Brown,  one  of  the  first  physicians  and 
scholars  of  his  day  :  also  that  Dr.  Wiseman,  an  eminent  surgeon 
of  that  period,  in  writing  on  scrofula,  says — "  However,  I  raust 
needs  profess  that  His  Majesty  (Charles  //.)  cureth  more  in  any 
one  year  than  all  the  chirurgcons  of  London  have  done  in  an  age.^' 

The   above  dcfrradinji  facts  arc   moral   tra,TCdics.  wliicli  were 


142  BUBBLES. 


not  acted  in  a  dark  corner,  by  a  few  obscure  strolling  individuals — 
not  even  by  any  great  political  faction, — but  the  audience  was  the 
British  nation — the  performers  the  King  on  his  throne — the  bishops, 
the  nobility,  the  judges,  the  physicians,  the  philosophers  of  the 
day.  In  short,  theory  and  practice,  hand  in  hand,  both  prove  to 
the  whole  world  the  double  error  in  our  system  of  education. 
Says  theory — if  young  people,  instead  of  being  taught  to  look  at 
the  ground  under  their  feet,  at  the  heaven  above  their  head,  or  at 
creation  around  them,  are  forced  by  the  rod  to  study  events  that 
never  happened,  speeches  that  never  were  made,  metamorphoses 
that  never  took  place,  forms  of  worship  and  creeds  ridiculous  and 
impious,  such  a  nation  must  inevitably  grow  up  narrow-minded, 
ignorant,  superstitious,  and  cruel.  Says  practice — this  prophecy 
has  been  most  fatally  fulfilled ;  and  in  England,  people  have 
believed  in  witchcraft — have  put  savage  faith  in  the  King's 
touch — and,  under  the  name  of  a  mild  and  merciful  religion, 
they  have  burnt  each  other  to  ashes  at  the  stake ! 

The  mute  steadiness  of  British  troops  under  fire, — the  total 
want  of  bluster  or  bravado  in  our  naval  actions — where,  as  we 
all  know, 

"  There  is  silence  deep  as  death, 
And  the  boldest  holds  his  breath 
For  a  time,"— 

the  laconic  manner  in  which  business  all  over  England  is  trans- 
acted (millions  being  exchanged  with  little  more  than  a  nod  of 
assent) — in  short,  our  national  respect  for  silent  conduct — form  a 
most  extraordinary  contrast  with  the  flatulent  eloquence  of  our 
parliamentary  debates. 

But  to  return  to  our  houses  of  Parliament :  shall  wo  now  pro- 
ceed to  calculate  what  would  be  the  expense  of  such  a  system  of 
government  or  misgovernment  as  that  which  has  just  been  shown 
to  have  proceeded,  not  from  the  imbecility  of  individuals,  but 
from  the  system  of  false  education  maintained  by  our  public 
schools  and  universities  ?  No  !  No  !  for  the  history  of  our  coun- 
try has  already  solved  this  great  problem,  and,  at  tliis  moment, 
does  it  record  to  our  posterity,  as  well  as  promulgate  to  the 
whole   world,   that    the    expense   of  a    great   mercantile   nation, 


SCHLANGENBAD ;  OR,  THE  SERPENTS'  BATH.  143 

looking  behind  it  instead  of  before  it — the  price  of  its  statesmen 
studying  ancient  poets  instead  of  modern  discoveries — of  mistak- 
ing tlie  •'  orbis  veteribus  cognitus"  for  the  figure  of  the  earth, 
amounts  to  neithey  more  nor  less  tlian  a  national  debt  of  eight 
HUNDRED  MILLIONS  of  English  pounds  sterling  !  In  short,  economy 
having  fatally  been  classed  at  our  universities  among  the  vulgar 
arts,  the  current  expenses  of  our  statesmen  have  naturally 
enough  been  ordered  to  be  put  down  to  their  children,  just  as 
their  college  bills  were  carelessly  ordered  to  be  forwarded  to  their 
fathers. 

However,  so  long  as  a  nation  is  icilling  to  purchase  at  the  above 
enormous,  or  at  any  still  greater  price,  the  luxury  of  reading 
Greek  and  Latin  poetry,  the  misfortune  at  first  appears  to  be  only 
pecuniary ;  and  it  might  almost  further  be  argued,  that  a  nation, 
like  an  individual,  ought  to  be  allowed  to  squander  its  money 
according  to  its  own  whim  or  fancy  ;  but,  though  this  may  or  may 
not  be  true  so  far  as  our  money  be  concerned,  yet  there  is  an 
event  which  must  arrive,  and  in  England  this  event  has  just 
ARRIVED,  when  a  continuance  of  such  a  mode  of  education  must 
inevitably  destroy  our  church,  aristocracy,  funds ;  in  short,  every- 
thing which  a  well-disposed  mind  loves,  venerates,  and  is  desirous 
to  uphold. 

The  fearful  event  to  which  I  allude  is  that  of  the  lower  classes 
of  people  becoming  enlightened. 

In  spite  of  all  that  party  spirit  angrily  asserts  to  the  contrary, 
most  firmly  do  I  believe  that  there  does  not  exist,  in  England,  any 
revolutionary  spirit  worth  being  afraid  of.  In  a  rich  commercial 
country,  the  idle,  the  profligate,  and  the  worthless  will  always  be 
anxious  to  level  the  well-earned  honors,  as  well  as  plunder  the 
wealth  amassed  by  the  brave,  intelligent,  and  industrious  ;  but 
every  respectable  member  of  society,  with  the  coolness  of  judgment 
natural  to  our  country,  must  feel  that  he  possesses  a  stake,  and 
enjoys  advantages,  which  I  firmly  believe  he  is  highly  desirous 
to  maintain  ;  in  fact,  not  only  the  good  feeling,  but  the  good  sense 
of  the  country,  support  the  fabric  of  our  society,  which  we  all 
know,  like  the  army,  derives  its  spirit  from  possessing  various 
honors  (never  mind  whether  they  be  of  intrinsic  value  or  not) 
which  we  are  all  more  or  less  desirous  to  obtain. 


144  BUBBLES. 


But  if  those  who  wear  these  honors  degrade  themselves — if 
our  upper  classes  culpably  desert  their  own  standards — if  they 
shall  continue  to  insist  on  giving  to  their  children  an  elegant, 
useless  education,  while  the  tradesman  is  filling  his  son  with 
steady  useful  knowledge — if  our  aristocracy,  with  the  Ghoul's 
horrid  taste,  ivill  obstinately  feed  itself  on  dead  languages,  while 
tl.e  lower  classes  are  greedily  digesting  fresh  wholesome  food — 
if  v.'riting,  arithmetic,  modern  geography,  arts,  sciences,  and  dis- 
coveries of  all  sorts  are  to  continue  (as  they  hitherto  have  con- 
tinued) to  be  most  barbarously  disregarded  at  our  public  schools 
and  universities,  while  they  are  carefully  attended  to  and  studied 
by  the  poor — the  moment  must  arrive  when  the  dense  population 
of  our  country  will  declare  that  they  can  no  longer  afford  to  be 
governed  by  classical  statesmen  ;  and,  with  an  equally  honest 
feeling,  they  will  further  declare,  they  begin  to  find  it  difficult  to 
look  up  to  the  people  who  have  ceased  to  be  morally  their  supe- 
riors. That  the  lower  orders  of  people  in  England  are  rising 
not  only  in  their  own  estimation,  but  in  the  honest  opinion  of  the 
world,  is  proved  by  the  singular  fact,  that  the  wood-cuts  of  our 
"  Penny  Magazine'^  (so  rapidly  printed  by  one  of  Clowes's  great 
steam  presses)  are  sent,  in  stereotype,  to  Germany,  France,  and 
Belgium,  where  they  are  published,  as  with  us,  for  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  lower  classes.  The  same  Magazine  is  also  sent  to 
America  (page  for  page)  stereotyped.  The  common  people  of 
England  are  thus  proudly  disseminating  their  knowledge  over 
the  surface  of  the  globe  ;  while  our  upper  classes,  by  an  in- 
fatuation which,  without  any  exception,  is  the  greatest  pheno- 
menon in  the  civilized  world,  are  still  sentencing  their  children  to 
heathen,  obscene,  and  useless  instruction  ;  and,  though  it  has 
beneficently  been  decreed  "  Let  there  be  light  !"'  our  universi- 
ties seriously  maintain  that  the  religious  as  well  as  moral  wel- 
fare of  this  noble  commercial  country  depends  upon  its  continuing 
in  intellectual  darkness. 

It  is  now  much  too  late  in  the  day  to  argue  whether  the  educa- 
tion of  the  lower  classes  be  a  political  advantage  or  not.  One 
might  as  well  stand  on  the  Manchester  Rail-road  to  stop  its  train 
as  to  endeavor  to  prevent  that.  The  people,  whether  we  like  it  or 
not,  WILL  be  enlightened  ;  and  therefore,  without  bewailing  the 


SCHLANGENBAD  ;  OR,  THE  SERPENTS'  BATH.  145 

disorder,  our  simple  and  orly  remedy  is,  by  resolutely  breaking 
up  the  system  of  our  public  schools  and  universities,  to  show  the 
people  that  we  have  nobly  determined  to  become  enlightened  too. 
The  English  gentleman  (a  name  which,  in  the  army,  navy, 
hunting-field,  or  in  any  other  strife  or  contention,  has  always 
shown  itself  able  to  beat  men  of  low  birth)  will  then  hold  his 
ground  in  the  estimation  of  his  tenants,  and  continue  to  inhabit 
his  estate.  The  English  nobleman  and  the  noble  Englishman 
will  continue  to  be  synonymous — a  well  educated  clergy  will  con- 
tinue to  be  revered — the  throne,  as  it  hitherto  hath  been,  will  be 
loyally  supported — our  mercantile  honor  will  be  saved — the  hopes 

OF    THE     RADICAL    WILL     BE     IRRETRIEVABLY     RUINED and,    whcn 

the  misty  danger  at  which  we  now  tremble  has  brightened  into 
intellectual  sunshine,  remaining,  as  we  must  do  (so  long  as  we 
continue  to  be  the  most  industrious),  the  wealthiest  and  first  com- 
mercial nation  on  the  globe,  we  shall  remember,  and  history  will 
transmit  to  our  children,  that  old-fashioned  prophecy  of  Falcon- 
bridge,  which  so  truly  says, 

"  Naught  shall  make  us  rue, 
If  England  to  itself  do  rest  but  true." 
********* 

I  had  retired  to  rest  much  pleased  with  Schlangenbad  and  all 
that  belonged  to  it,  when  about  midnight  I  was  awakened  by  a 
general  slamming  of  doors,  windows,  and  shutters,  occasioned  by 
a  most  violent  gale  of  wind,  and  on  opening  my  eyes,  the  bright 
moonlight  scene,  which,  without  even  moving  my  head,  I  beheld, 
was  mysteriously  grand  and  imposing.  Although  the  moon, 
which  had  just  risen,  was,  as  I  lay,  not  discernible  through  my 
windows,  yet  its  silvery  light  beamed  so  strongly  that  the  two  lit- 
tle whitewashed  mill-cottages  in  the  valley  seemed  to  be  even  bright- 
er than  I  had  observed  them  during  the  day.  But  what  particu- 
larly attracted  my  attention  was  the  apparent  writhing  of  those 
c;reat  hills  which,  as  if  they  had  only  just  been  rent  asunder, 
hemmed  me  in.  Every  tree  on  them  was  bending  and  waving 
from  the  violence  of  the  squall,  and  as  cloud  after  cloud  rapidly 
hurried  across  the  moon,  sometimes  obscuring  and  then  suddenly 
restoring  to  my  view  the  strange  prospect,  the  uncertainty  of  this 
11 


146  BUBBLES. 


undulating  movement  gave  a  supernatural  appearance  to  the  scene, 
which  more  resembled  the  fiction  of  a  dreain,  or  of  a  romance, 
than  any  possible  effect  of  wind  on  trees.  The  clean,  glistening 
foliage  seemed  scarcely  able  to  stand  against  the  gale,  which  still 
continued  to  increase,  until  a  loud  peal  of  thunder,  followed  by  a 
few  heavy  drops,  announced  a  calm,  which  was  no  sooner  estab- 
lished than  the  light  of  the  moon  appeared  to  be  converted  by  na- 
ture into  a  heavy  deluge  of  rain.  For  some  few  moments  I  listened, 
I  believe,  to  the  refreshing  sound,  and  to  the  rushing  of  the  stream 
beneath  me,  but  as  the  darkness  around  me  increased,  my  eyes 
closed,  and  I  again  dropped  off  to  sleep. 

The  little  society  of  Schlangenbad,  like  that  of  most  of  the 
towns  and  villages  in  this  part  of  Germany,  is  composed  of  Luthe- 
rans, Catholics,  and  Jews.  The  former  sects  have  each  a  place 
of  worship  allotted  to  them  in  the  Old  Bad-Haus  or  Nassauer-Hof, 
and  their  two  chambers,  standing  nearly  opposite  to  each  other, 
remind  me  very  strongly  of  those  twin-roads  which  in  England 
often  lead  from  one  little  country  town  to  another. 

On  each  is  the  stranger  invited  to  travel — one  boasts  that  it  is 
the  nearest  by  half  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  the  other  brags  that  "  it 
avoids  the  hill."  Such  is  the  distinction  between  the  two  Chris- 
tian sects  at  Schlangenbad  ; — both  start  from  the  same  point — both 
strain  for  the  same  goal,  and  yet  they  querulously  refuse  to  travel 
together  ! 

After  having  spent  two  or  three  days  in  rambling  up  and  down 
the  valley,  searching  for  and  admiring  its  sequestered  beauties, 
like  Rasselas,  I  felt  anxious  to  scale  the  mountains  which  surround- 
ed me,  and  accordingly  inquired  for  a  path,  which,  I  was  told,  would 
extricate  me  from  my  happy  valley  ;  however,  after  I  had  con- 
tinued on  it  some  way,  fancying  I  could  attain  the  summit  by  a 
shorter  cut,  I  attempted  to  ascend  the  mountain  by  a  straight 
course.  For  some  time  I  appeared  to  succeed  pretty  well,  feeling 
every  moment  encouraged  at  observing  how  high  I  had  risen  above 
the  grassy  valley  beneath ;  however,  the  mountain  grew  steeper 
and  the  trees  thicker  and  larger,  until  I  began  to  find  that  I  had  a 
much  heavier  job  on  my  hands  than  I  had  bargained  for  :  never- 
theless, upward  I  proceeded,  winding  my  way  through  some  mag- 
nificent oak  timber,  until  at  last  I  attained  actually  the  top  of  the 


SCHLANGENBAD ;  OR,  THE  SERPENTS'  BATH.  14' 


mountain :  yet  so  surrounded  was  I  by  trees,  that,  very  nnuch  to 
my  disappointment,  I  found  it  impossible  to  see  ten  yards  before 
me.  For  a  considerable  distance  I  walked  along  the  ridge,  hop- 
ing to  find  some  gap  or  open  spot  which  would  enable  me  to  get  a 
glimpse  of  the  country  beneath  me,  but  in  vain  ;  for,  go  where  I 
would,  I  was  like  a  reptile  crawling  through  a  field  of  standing 
corn  ;  in  short,  nothing  could  I  see  but  trees,  and  even  they  ap- 
peared to  be  of  no  value,  as  a  great  number  of  stately  oaks  were 
in  every  direction  rotting  just  as  if  they  were  beyond  the  reach 
and  ken  of  mankind.  As  I  was  winding  between  these  timber 
trees,  hoping,  at  least,  to  see  deer  or  wild  game  of  some  sort,  it 
began  to  rain,  and  though  I  had  no  disposition  on  that  account  to 
abandon  my  object,  yet  absolutely  not  knowing  where  to  seek  it, 
I  was  almost  in  despair,  when  it  suddenly  occurred  to  me  to  climb 
one  of  the  trees  ;  and  the  idea  had  no  sooner  entered  my  head, 
than  I  felt  quite  angry  with  myself  for  not  having  thought  of  it 
before  :  however,  I  was  some  little  time  before  I  could  find  one  to 
suit,  for  to  swarm  up  the  large  body  of  one  of  the  great  oaks 
would  have  been  quite  impossible.  As  soon  as  I  found  a  tree 
adapted  to  my  purpose  and  my  powers,  I  climbed  it  in  spite  of  the 
rain,  and  I  was  no  sooner  in  the  position  of  King  Charles  the 
Second,  than  I  witnessed  one  of  the  most  splendid  views  that  can 
be  well  conceived. 

Beneath  me  was  the  Rhine,  glistening  and  meandering  in  its 
course,  while  nearly  opposite  and  beneath  me  lay  Bingen,  which 
appeared  to  be  basking  on  the  banks  of  a  lake.  Almost  every 
one  who  has  travelled  on  the  Rhine  speaks  in  raptures  of  this  part 
of  it,  yet  the  view  I  enjoyed,  seated  on  the  limb  of  my  tree,  was 
altogether  superior  to  what  they  could  have  witnessed,  because  at 
one  view  I  beheld  the  beauties  that  they  had  only  successively  ad- 
mired. The  hills  on  which  I  was  placed  were  clothed  to  their 
summits  with  foliage,  feathering  down  to  the  very  water's  edge ; 
and  instead  of  the  little  portion  of  the  river,  which,  as  one  niggles 
alonf^,  is  seen  bit  by  bit  from  the  steam-boat,  its  whole  course 
seemed  to  be  displaying  itself  to  my  view.  The  opposite  shore 
was  comparatively  flat,  and  as  far  as  I  could  see,  a  boundless 
fertile  wine  country  appeared  to  extend  there.  The  shower, 
which  was  still  falling  in  heavy  drops  upon  my  tree,  only  belong. 


148  BUBBLES. 


ed  to  the  mountain  on  which  it  stood,  for  the  whole  country  and 
river  beneath  were  basking  in  sunshine.  It  was  really  delightful 
to  enjoy  at  once  the  sight  of  so  many  beautiful  objects,  and  I 
hardly  knew  whether  to  admire  most  the  lovely  little  islands 
which  seemed  floating  at  anchor  in  the  R,hine,  or  the  vast  expanse 
of  continent  which  was  prostrate  before  me  ;  but  without  continu- 
ing the  description,  any  one  who  will  only  look  on  his  map  for  Bin- 
gen,  and  then  imagine  an  old  man  seated  in  the  clouds  above  it, 
will  perceive  what  a  salient  angle  I  occupied,  and  what  a  magni- 
ficent  prospect  I  enjoyed. 

As  soon  as  I  had  imbibed  a  sufficient  dose  of  it,  I  commenced 
my  descent,  which  was  of  course  easy  enough  when  compared 
with  the  fatigue  I  had  suffered  in  attaining  the  object.  The  trees 
were  dripping,  and  the  mossy  surface  of  the  ground  made  my 
feet  equally  wet ;  however,  rapidly  descending,  I  soon  got  first  a 
glimpse  of  my  own  window  in  the  New  Bad-Haus,  then  a  peep 
at  the  little  quiet  mills  whose  wheels  I  saw  slowly  turning  under 
the  clear  bright  water  that  sparkled  above  them  ;  and  really  when 
I  at  last  got  down  to  the  green  secluded  valley  of  Schlangenbad, 
i  felt  that  I  would  not  exchange  its  peaceful  tranquillity  for  the 
possession  of  all  the  splendid  objects  I  had  just  witnessed. 

Yet  in  viewing  this  humble  scene,  as  well  as  in  revelling  over 
that  magnificent  prospect  where  space  and  wood  seemed  to  be  in- 
finite, the  very  air  smelling  of  health  and  freedom,  there  was  a 
small  feature  in  the  picture  which  often  gave  me  very  painful  re- 
flections. There  are,  perhaps,  many  v/ho  will  say,  that  two  or 
three  peasants'  roofs  are  specks,  which  (whatever  sad  secrets  may 
lie  hidden  beneath  them)  ought  not  to  disturb  the  mind  of  the 
spectator,  being  objects  much  too  insignificant  to  be  worthy  of  his 
notice  ;  yet  the  more  I  admired  the  splendor  of  the  mountain 
scenery, — the  more  the  verdant  valley  seemed  to  rejoice, — the 
more  the  wild  deer,  dashing  by  me,  appeared  to  enjoy  the  rich 
gifts  of  creation, — the  more  difficult  did  I  find  it  to  forget  the  ab- 
ject poverty  of  the  two  or  three  poor  families  which  were  inhabit- 
ing this  smiling  valley  ;  and  (on  the  principle  of  not  muzzling  the 
ox  that  treadeth  out  the  corn)  it  certainly  did  seem  to  me  hard, 
that,  surrounded  as  these  poor  people  are  by  an  almost  boundless 
forest  of  timber  trees,  quantities  of  which,  stag-headed,  are  actu- 


SCHLANGENBAD;  OR,  THE  SERPENTS'  BATH.  149 

ally  returning  to  the  dust  from  which  they  sprung,  they  should, 
by  the  laws  of  their  country,  be  rigidly  forbidden  to  collect  fuel 
to  cheer  the  inclemency  of  the  winter,  or  even  with  their  fmgers 
to  tear  up  a  little  wild  grass  beneath  the  trees  for  their  cow. 

Considering  that  tlie  storm,  like  the  wind,  cometh  where  it  list- 
eth,  afflicting  the  poor  man  even  more  than  the  well-sheltered 
rich  one,  it  seems  hard,  in  districts  so  nearly  uninhabited,  that 
when  the  oak  tree  is  levelled  with  the  ground,  the  mountain  pea- 
sant who  has  weathered  the  gale  should  be  prevented  from  plun- 
dering this  wreck  of  the  desolate  forest  in  which  he  has  been  born. 
Nevertheless,  that  such  is  the  case,  will  be  but  too  evident  from 
the  following  short  extracts  from  a  very  long  list  of  forest  penal- 
ties, rigidly  enforced  by  the  Duke  of  Nassau  : — 

FOREST    PENALTIES. 

Fine. 

•c^        ■,     J    c  J     C  a  child 34  kreuzers.* 

For  a  load  of  sear  wood    <  ^ .         , 

(  grown-up  person 54        do. 

If  it  be  green  wood,  the  fine  is  doubled. 

For  a  load  of  dead  leaves      i  ^  ""^''^^ 26  to  28  kreuzers. 

(  grown-up  person 46  to  48 

For  a  load  of  green  grass      C  a  child 30  do. 

torn  up  by  the  hand.         (  grown-up  person 50  do. 

Should  a  sickle  or  scythe  be  used,  the  fine  then  becomes  doubled  ;  like- 
wise for  a  second  trespass  ;  for  a  third,  imprisonment  ensues. 

It  is  against  the  Duke's  law  to  take  birds'  nests  ;  even  those  of  birds  of 
prey  cannot  be  taken  without  the  permission  of  the  keeper  of  the  forests. 

For  a  nest  taken  of  common  singing  birds,  5  florins. 

For  nightingales 15     do. 

Should  the  nest  be  taken  out  of  a  pleasure  ground,  the  fine  then  becomes 
doubled. 

It  may  appear  to  many  people  quite  impossible  that  those  pen- 
alties can  be  enforced  in  desolate  districts  so  nearly  uninhabited  : 
nevertheless,  by  a  sort  of  diamond-cut-diamond  system,  the  Duke's 
forest  officers  have  various  cunning  ways  of  detecting  those  who 
infringe  them ;  and  the  fact  is,  that  fuel  and  wild  grass  are  very 
often  wanting  in  a  solitary  hovel  absolutely  environed  by  both.  I 
myself  v/as  one  day  told  that  I  had  become  liable  to  be  fined 

*  Three  kreuzers  make  one  penny  English  ;  sixty  kreuzers  (or  1*.  Sd.) 
make  one  florin. 


150  BUBBLES. 


eighteen  kreuzers,  because  in  a  reverie  I  had  allowed  a  rough 
pony  I  was  riding  to  bend  his  head  down  and  eat  a  few  mouthfuls 
of  grass ;  and  another  day,  seeing  a  man  who  was  driving  the 
ass  I  was  riding  rub  with  mud  the  end  of  a  switch  he  had  just  cut, 
I  was  told  by  him,  in  answer  to  my  inquiry,  that  he  did  so  that  it 
might  not  be  proved  he  had  cut  it.  However,  lest  these  trifling 
data  should  not  be  deemed  sufficient  proof,  I  will  at  once  add, 
that  I  have  myself  seen  the  peasants  lying  in  the  Duke's  prison 
for  having  offended  against  these  petty  laws. 

I  took  some  pains  to  inquire  w^hat  possible  objection  there  could 
be  to  the  poor  people  collecting  a  few  dead  leaves,  or  the  rank 
wild  grass  which  grows  here  and  there  all  over  the  forest,  and  I 
was  told  that  both  of  these  by  rotting  are  supposed  to  manure 
the  trees,  yet,  as  I  have  already  stated,  quantities  of  the  largest 
timber  are  to  be  seen  decaying  in  every  direction. 

In  a  crowded,  populous  country,  all  descriptions  of  property 
must  be  clearly  distinguished  and  most  sternly  protected,  but  in  a 
state  of  nature,  or  in  districts  so  nearly  approaching  to  it  as  many 
part  of  Nassau,  the  same  rule  is  not  applicable — the  same  neces- 
sity does  not  exist ;  and  under  such  circumstances  the  punishment 
inflicted  upon  a  child  for  tearing  up  for  his  mother's  cow  wild 
grass  with  his  hands  most  certainly  is  (and  who  can  deny  it  ?) 
greater  than  the  offence. 

It  is  with  no  hostile  or  bad  feeling  towards  the  Duke  of  Nassau 
that  I  mention  these  details :  he  is  a  personage  much  beloved  in 
his  duchy,  and  I  believe  with  great  reason  is  he  respected  there,  yet 
his  forest  laws  no  one  surely  can  admire  ;  and  though  custom 
certainly  has  sanctioned  them — though  the  humbler  voice  of  those 
who  have  suffered  under  them  has  hitherto  been  too  feeble  to  reach 
his  ears, — and  though  those  about  his  court  and  person  are  but 
little  disposed  to  awaken  his  attention  to  such  mean  complaints, 
— yet  no  one  can  calmly  see  and  foresee  the  state  of  political  feel- 
ing in  Germany  without  admitting  that  the  most  humble  traveller 
(and  why  not  an  English  one  ?)  may  render  the  Duke  of  Nassau 
a  friendly  service,  by  bringing  into  daylight,  unveiled  by  flattery, 
an  act  of  oppression  in  his  government,  which,  while  it  has  most 
probably  escaped  his  attention,  is  seditiously  hoarded  up  by  his 
political  enemies  to  form  part  of  that  fulcrum  which  they  are 


SCHLANGENBAD;  OR,  THE  SERPENTS'  BATH.  151 

secretly  working  at,  in  order  to  effect  by  it,  if  possible,  his  down- 
fall. A  grievance,  like  a  wound,  often  only  requires  to  be  laid 
open  to  be  cured  ;  whereas  if,  deeply  seated,  it  be  concealed  from 
view,  like  gunpowder  imbedded  in  a  rock,  when  once  the  spark 
does  reach  it,  it  explodes  with  a  violence  proportionate  to  the 
power  which  would  vainly  have  attempted  to  smother  it  in  the 
earth. 


152  BUBBLES. 


NIEDER-SELTERS. 


Having  in  various  countries  drunk  so  much  and  heard  so  much 
of  the  celebrated  refreshing  Selters  or  Selzer  water,  I  determined 
one  lovely  morning  to  exchange  the  pleasure  of  rambling  about 
the  woods  of  Schlangenbad  for  the  self-imposed  duty  of  visiting  the 
brunnen  of  Nieder-Selters :  accordingly,  I  managed  to  procure  a 
carriage,  and  with  three  post-horses  away  I  trotted,  sitting  as  up- 
right and  as  full  of  exuberant  enjoyment  as  our  great  departed 
lexicographer  in  his  hack  chaise.  The  macadamized  road  on 
which  I  travelled,  with  the  sight  of  men  and  boys  sitting  by  its 
side,  spitefully  cracking  with  slight  hammers  little  stones  upon 
flat  big  ones,  might  easily  have  reminded  me  of  old  England  ; 
but  five  women,  each  carrying  on  her  head  sixteen  large  stone 
bottles  of  Schlangenbad  water  to  wash  the  faces  of  the  ladies  of 
Schwalbach — the  dress  of  three  peasants  with  long  pipes  in  their 
mouths — a  little  cart  draw^  by  two  cows — the  Prince  of  Saxe 
Coburg  in  a  rough  carriage  pulled  by  horses  w^ithout  blinkers  and 
in  rope  harness — an  immense  mastiff,  driving  before  him  to  be 
slaughtered  a  calf  not  a  v/eek  old,  and  scarcely  as  high  as  him- 
self— all  these  trifling  incidents,  combined  with  the  magnificent 
outline  of  wooded  hills  which  towered  above  the  road,  constantly 
reminded  me  that  I  was  still  under  the  political  roof,  and  in  the 
dominions  of  "  The  Duke." 

On  arriving  at  Schwalbach,  I  learned  that  the  remainder  of 
the  journey,  which  was  to  occupy  six  hours,  was  to  be  performed 
on  roads  which,  in  the  English  language,  are  termed  so  very 
properly  "  cross."  Accordingly,  passing  under  the  great  barren 
hill  appropriated  to  the  Schwein-General  of  Langen-Schwalbach, 
we  followed  for  some  time  the  course  of  a  green  grassy  valley. 


NIEDER-SELTERS.  153 


the  herbage  of  which  had  just  been  cut  for  the  second  time  ;  and 
then  getting  into  a  country  much  afflicted  with  hills,  the  horses 
were  either  straining  to  ascend  them,  or  sutfering  equally  severely 
in  the  descent.  In  many  places  the  road  was  hardly  as  broad  as 
the  carriage,  and  as  there  was  generally  a  precipice  on  one  side, 
I  might  occasionally  have  felt  a  little  nervous  had  it  not  been  for 
sundry  jolts  happily  just  violent  enough  to  prevent  the  mind  think- 
ing of  anything  else. 

Passing  the  Misenhammer,  a  water-mill  lifting  an  immense 
hammer,  which  forges  iron  by  its  fall  (a  lion  which  the  water- 
drinkers  of  Schwalbach  generally  visit),  I  proceeded  through  the 
village  of  Neuhof  to  Wiirges,  where  we  changed  horses,  and,  what 
was  still  more  important,  bartered  an  old  postilion  for  a  young  one. 
For  a  considerable  time  our  road  ascended,  passing  through  woods 
and  park-like  plantations  belonging  to  the  Duke  of  Nassau's  hunt- 
innr  seat  '•  Die  Platte  ;'*'  at  last  we  broke  away  from  these  coverts 
which  had  environed  us,  traversing  a  vast,  undulating,  unen- 
closed country,  furrowed  by  ravines  and  deep  valleys,  many  of 
which  we  descended  and  ascended.  The  principal  crops  were 
potatoes,  barley,  oats,  rye,  and  wheat, — the  three  former  being 
perfectly  green,  the  two  latter  completely  ripe ;  and  as  it  hap- 
pened, from  some  reason  or  other,  that  these  sets  of  crops  were 
generally  sown  on  the  same  sort  of  land,  it  constantly  occurred 
that  the  entire  produce  of  some  hill  wore  the  green  dress  of 
spring,  while  other  eminences  were  as  wholly  clothed  in  the  rich 
dusky  garments  of  autumn.  The  harvest,  however,  not  having 
commenced,  and  the  villages  being,  generally  speaking,  hidden 
in  the  ravines,  the  crops  often  seemed  to  be  without  owners. 
Descending,  however,  into  valleys,  we  occasionally  passed  through 
several  very  large  villages,  which  were  generally  paved,  or  rather 
studded  with  paving  stones ;  and  as  the  carriage-wheels  hopped 
from  one  to  anoth'^r,  the  sensation  (being  still  too  fresh  in  my 
memory)  I  had  rather  decline  to  describe :  suffice  to  say,  that 
the  painful  excitation  vividly  expressed  in  my  countenance  must 
have  formed  an  odd  contrast  with  the  dull,  heavy,  half-asleep 
faces,  which,  as  if  raised  from  the  grave  by  the  rattling  of  my 
springs  as  well  as  joints,  just  showed  themselves  at  the  windows, 
as  if  to  scare  me  as  I  passed.     From  poverty,  their  thin  mountain 


154  BUBBLES. 


air  and  meagre  food,  the  inhabitants  of  all  these  villages  looked 
dreadfully  wan,  and  really  there  was  a  want  of  animation  among 
the  young  people,  as  well  as  the  old,  which  it  was  quite  distress- 
ing to  witness ;  the  streets  seemed  nearly  deserted,  while  the  mud 
houses,  with  their  unpainted  windows,  appeared  to  be  as  dry  and 
cheerless  as  their  inmates  :  here  and  there  were  to  be  seen  child- 
ren, with  hair  resembling  in  color  and  disorder  a  bunch  of  flax — 
but  no  youthful  merriment,  no  playfulness — in  short,  they  were 
evidently  sapless  chips  of  the  old  wooden  blocks,  which  were  still 
gaping  at  me  from  the  window- frames. 

At  one  of  these  solemn  villages  the  postilion  stopped  at  a 
''  gast-haus  "  to  bait  his  horses.  Odd  as  it  may  sound,  it  is  never- 
theless true,  that  German  post-horses  have  seldom  what  we  should 
term  bridles.  Snaffle-bits,  ending  with  T's  instead  of  rings,  being 
put  into  their  mouths,  are  hooked  (by  these  T's)  to  iron  billets  in 
the  head-pieces  of  common  stable-halters,  by  which  arrangement, 
to  feed  the  animals,  it  is  only  necessary,  without  taking  them 
from  the  carriage,  to  unhook  one  end  of  the  bits,  which  immedi- 
ately fall  from  their  mouths  ;  a  slight  trough,  on  four  legs,  is  then 
placed  before  them,  and  the  traveller  generally  continues,  as  I 
did,  to  sit  in  his  carriage  watching  the  horses  voraciously  eating 
up  slices  of  black  rye  bread. 

In  England,  there  is  no  surer  recipe  known  for  making  a  pair 
of  horses  suddenly  run  away  with  one's  carriage,  than  by  taking 
off  their  blinkers  to  allow  them  to  see  it ;  but  though  our  method 
decidedly  suits  us  the  best,  yet  in  Germany  the  whole  system  of 
managing  horses  from  beginning  to  end  is  completely  different  from 
ours.  Whether  there  is  most  of  the  horse  in  a  German,  or  of  the 
German  in  a  horse,  is  a  nice  point  on  which  people  might  argue  a 
great  deal ;  but  the  broad  fact  really  is,  that  Germans  live  on 
more  amicable  terms  with  their  horses,  and  understand  their  dis- 
positions infinitely  better  than  the  English  :  in  short,  they  treat 
them  as  horses,  while  we  act  towards  them,  and  drill  them,  as  if 
they  were  men  ;  and  in  case  any  one  should  doubt  that  Germans 
are  better  horse-masters  than  we  are,  I  beg  to  remind  them  of 
what  is  perfectly  well-known  to  the  British  army — namely,  that  in 
the  Peninsular  war  the  cavalry  horses  of  the  German  legion 


NIEDER-SELTERS.  155 


were  absolutely  fat,  while  those  of  our  regiments  were  skin  and 
bone. 

In  a  former  chapter  I  have  already  endeavored  to  explain,  that 
instead  of  reining  a  horse's  head  up,  as  we  do,  for  draught,  the 
Germans  encourage  the  animal  to  keep  it  doum  ;  but  besides  this, 
in  all  their  other  arrangements  they  invariably  attend  to  the  tem- 
per, character,  and  instinct  of  the  beast.  For  instance,  in  harness 
they  intrust  these  sensible  animals  (who  are  never  known  to  forget 
what  they  have  once  seen)  with  the  free  use  of  their  eyes.  Their 
horses  see  tke  wheel  strike  a  stone,  and  they  avoid  the  next  one ; 
if  they  drag  the  carriage  against  a  post,  they  again  observe  the 
effect ;  and  seeing  at  all  times  what  is  behind  them,  they  know 
that  by  kicking  they  would  hurt  themselves ;  when  passengers 
and  postilion  dismount,  from  attentive  observation  they  are  as 
sensible  as  we  are  that  the  draught  will  suddenly  become  less,  and 
consequently,  rejoicing  at  being  thus  left  to  themselves,  instead  of 
wishing  to  run  away,  they  invariably  are  rather  disposed  to  stand 
still. 

As  soon  as,  getting  tired,  or,  as  we  are  often  too  apt  to  term  it, 
*'  lazy,"  they  see  the  postilion  threaten  them  with  his  whip,  they 
know  perfectly  well  the  limits  of  his  patience,  and  that  after 
eight,  ten,  or  twelve  threats,  there  will  come  a  blow :  as  they 
travel  along,  one  eye  is  always  shrewdly  watching  the  driver — 
the  moment  he  begins  the  heavy  operation  of  lighting  his  pipe, 
they  immediately  slacken  their  pace,  knowing,  as  well  as  Archi- 
medes could  have  proved,  that  he  cannot  strike  fire  and  them  at 
the  same  time ;  every  movement  in  the  carriage  they  remark ; 
and  to  any  accurate  observer  who  meets  a  German  vehicle,  it 
must  often  be  perfectly  evident  that  the  poor  horses  know  and 
feel,  even  better  than  himself,  that  they  are  drawing  a  coachman, 
and  three  heavy  baronesses  with  their  maid,  and  that  to  do  that  on 
a  hot  summer's  day  is — no  joke.  When  their  driver  urges  them 
to  proceed,  he  does  it  by  degrees ;  and  they  are  stopped,  not  as 
bipeds,  but  in  the  manner  quadrupeds  would  stop  themselves. 

Now,  though  we  all  like  our  own  way  best,  let  us  for  a  mo- 
ment (merely  while  the  horses  are  feeding)  contrast  with  the 
above  description  our  English  mode  of  treating  a  horse. 

In  order  to  break  in  the  animal  to  draught,  we  put  a  collar 


15G  BUBBLES. 


round  his  neck,  a  crupper  under  his  tail,  a  pad  on  his  back,  a  strap 
round  his  belly,  with  traces  at  his  sides,  and  lest  he  should  see 
that,  though  these  things  tickle  and  pinch,  they  have  not  power  to 
do  more,  the  poor  intelligent  creature  is  blinded  with  blinkers : 
and  in  this  fearful  state  of  ignorance,  with  a  groom  or  two  at  his 
head,  and  another  at  his  side,  he  is,  without  his  knowledge,  fixed 
to  the  pole  and  splinter-bar  of  a  carriage.  If  he  kicks,  even  at 
a  fly,  he  suddenly  receives  a  heavy  punishment,  which  he  does 
not  comprehend — something  has  struck  him,  and  has  hurt  him 
severely  ;  but,  as  fear  magnifies  all  danger,  so,  fot  aught  we 
know  or  care,  he  may  fancy  that  the  splinter-bar,  which  has  cut 
him,  is  some  hostile  animal,  and  expect,  when  the  pole  bumps 
against  his  legs,  to  be  again  assailed  in  that  direction. 

Admitting  that  in  time  he  gets  accustomed  to  these  phenomena, 
becoming  what  we  term  steady  in  harness,  still,  to  the  last  hour 
of  his  existence,  he  does  not  clearly  understand  what  it  is  that  is 
hampering  him,  or  what  is  that  rattling  noise  which  is  always  at 
his  heels  :  the  sudden  sting  of  the  whip  is  a  pain  with  which  he 
gets  but  too  well  acquainted,  yet  the  "  unde  derivatur"  of  the 
sensation  he  cannot  explain — he  neither  knows  when  it  is  coming, 
nor  where  it  comes  from.  If  any  trifling  accident,  or  even  irre- 
gularity occurs — if  any  little  harmless  strap,  which  ought  to  rest 
upon  his  back,  happens  to  fall  to  his  side — the  poor,  noble,  intelli- 
gent animal,  deprived  of  his  eye-sight,  the  natural  lanterns  of  the 
mind,  is  instantly  alarmed  ;  and  though,  from  constant  heavy 
draught,  he  may  literally,  without  metaphor,  be  on  his  last  legs, 
yet  if  his  blinkers  should  happen  to  fall  off,  the  sight  of  his  own 
master — of  his  very  own  pimple-faced  mistress — and  of  his  own 
fine  yellow  carriage  in  motion — would  scare  him  so  dreadfully, 
that  off*  he  would  probably  start,  and  the  more  they  all  pursued 
him  the  faster  would  he  fly  ! 

I  am  aware  that  many  of  my  readers,  especially  those  of  the 
fairer  sex,  will  feel  disposed  to  exclaim,  "  Why  admire  German 
horses  ?  Can  there  be  any  in  creation  better  fed  or  warmer 
clothed  than  our  own  ?  In  black  and  silver  harness  are  they  not 
ornamented  nearl)'-  as  highly  as  ourselves  ?  Is  there  any  amuse- 
ment in  town  which  they  do  not  attend  ?  Do  we  not  take  them  to 
the  Italian  Opera,  to  balls,   plays,  to  hear  Paganini,  &c.  ;  and 


NIEDER-SELTERS.  157 


don't  they  often  go  to  two  or  three  routs  of  a  night  ?  Are  our 
horses  ever  seen  standing  before  vulgar  shops  ?  And  do  they  not 
drive  to  church  every  Sunday  as  regularly  as  ourselves  ?" 

Most  humbly  do  I  admit  the  force  of  these  observations  ;  all  I 
persist  in  asserting  is,  that  horses  are  foolishly  fond  of  their  eye- 
sight— like  to  wear  their  heads  awkwardly,  as  Nature  has  placed 
them  ;  and  that  they  have  had  taste  enough  to  prefer  dull  Ger- 
man grooms  and  coachmen  to  our  sharp  English  ones. 

As  soon  as  my  horses  had  finished  their  black  bread,  all  my  idle 
speculations  concerning  them  vanished ;  the  snaffle-bits  were  put 
into  their  mouths — the  trough  removed — and  on  we  proceeded  to  a 
village,  where  we  again  changed. 

The  features  of  the  country  now  began  to  grow  larger  than 
ever ;  and  though  crops,  green  and  brown,  were,  as  far  as  the  eye 
could  reach,  gently  waving  around  me,  yet  the  want  of  habitations, 
plantations,  and  fences,  gave  to  the  extensive  prospect  an  air  of 
desolation  :  the  picture  was,  perhaps,  grand,  but  it  wanted  fore- 
ground :  however,  this  deficiency  was  soon  most  delightfully  sup- 
plied by  the  identical  object  I  was  in  search  of — namely,  the 
brunnen  and  establishment  of  Nieder-Selters,  which  suddenly  ap- 
peared on  the  road-side  close  before  me,  scarcely  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  from  its  village. 

The  moment  I  entered  the  great  gate  of  the  enclosure  which, 
surrounded  by  a  high  stone  wall,  occupies  about  eight  acres  of 
ground,  so  strange  a  scene  presented  itself  suddenly  to  my  view, 
that  my  first  impression  was,  I  had  discovered  a  new  world  inha- 
bited by  brown  stone  bottles  !  for  in  all  directions  were  they  to  be 
seen  rapidly  moving  from  one  part  of  tlie  establishment  to  another, 
standing  actually  in  armies  on  the  ground,  or  piled  in  immense 
layers  or  strata  one  above  another.  Such  a  profusion  and  such  a 
confusion  of  bottles  it  had  never  entered  human  imagination  to 
conceive  ;  and  before  I  could  bring  my  eyes  to  stoop  to  detail, 
with  uplifted  hands  I  stood  for  several  seconds  in  utter  amaze- 
ment. 

On  approaching  a  large  circular  shed,  covered  with  a  slated 
roof,  supported  by  posts,  but  open  on  all  sides,  I  found  the  single 
brunnen  or  well  from  which  this  highly-celebrated  water  is  for- 
warded to  almost  every  quarter  of  the  globe — to  India,  the  West 


15S  BUBBLES. 


Indies,  the  Mediterranean,  Paris,  London,  and  to  almost  every 
city  in  Germany.  The  hole,  which  was  about  five  feet  square, 
was  bounded  by  a  frame-work  of  four  strong  beams  mortised 
together ;  and  the  bottom  of  the  shed  being  boarded,  it  very  much 
resembled,  both  in  shape  and  dimensions,  one  of  the  hatches  in 
the  deck  of  a  ship.  A  small  crane  with  three  arms,  to  each  of 
svhich  there  was  suspended  a  square  iron  crate  or  basket,  a  little 
smaller  than  the  brunnen,  stood  about  ten  feet  off:  and  while 
peasant  girls,  with  a  stone  bottle  (holding  three  pints)  dangling  on 
every  finger  of  each  hand,  were  rapidly  filling  two  of  these  crates, 
which  contained  seventy  bottles,  a  man  turned  the  third  by  a 
winch,  until  it  hung  immediately  over  the  brunnen,  into  which  it 
then  rapidly  descended.  The  air  in  these  seventy  bottles  being 
immediately  displaced  by  the  water,  a  great  bubbling  of  course 
ensued ;  but  in  about  twenty  seconds,  this  having  subsided,  the 
crate  was  raised  ;  and,  while  seventy  more  bottles  descended 
from  another  arm  of  the  crane,  a  fresh  set  of  girls  curiously  car- 
ried off  these  full  bottles,  one  on  each  finger  of  each  hand,  rang- 
ing them  in  several  long  rows  upon  a  large  table  or  dresser,  also 
beneath  the  shed.  No  sooner  were  they  there,  than  two.  men, 
with  surprising  activity,  put  a  cork  into  each ;  while  two  drum- 
mers, with  a  loncj  stick  in  each  of  their  hands  hammerino;  them 
down,  appeared  as  if  they  were  playing  upon  musical  glasses. 

Another  set  of  young  women  now  instantly  carried  them  off, 
four  and  five  in  each  hand,  to  men  who,  with  sharp  knives,  sliced 
off  the  projecting  part  of  the  cork  ;  and  this  operation  being  over, 
the  poor  jaded  bottles  were  delivered  over  to  women,  each  of 
whom  actually  covered  3000  of  them  a-day  with  white  leather, 
which  they  firmly  bound  with  packthread  round  the  corks ;  and 
then,  without  placing  the  bottles  on  the  ground,  they  delivered 
them  over  to  a  man  seated  beside  them,  who,  without  any  apology, 
dipped  each  of  their  noses  into  boiling  hot  rosin  ;  and  before  they 
had  recovered  from  this  unexpected  operation,  the  Duke  of  Nas- 
sau's seal  was  stamped  upon  them  by  another  man,  when  off  they 
were  hurried,  sixteen  and  twenty  at  a  time,  by  girls  to  magazines, 
where  they  peacefully  remained  ready  for  exportation. 

Although  this  series  of  operations,  when  related  one  after  an- 
other, may  sound  simple  enough,  yet  it  must  be  kept  in  mind  that 


NIEDER-SELTERS.  159 


all  were  performed  at  once  ;  and  when  it  is  considered  that  a 
three-armed  crane  was  drawing  up  seventy  bottles  at  a  time,  from 
three  o'clock  in  the  morning  till  seven  o'clock  at  night  (meal 
hours  excepted),  it  is  evident  th^t,  without  very  excellent  arrange- 
ment, some  of  the  squads  either  would  be  glutted  with  more  work 
than  they  could  perform,  or  would  stand  idle  with  nothing  to  do ; 
no  one,  therefore,  dares  to  hurry  or  stop ;  the  machinery,  in  full 
motion,  has  the  singular  appearance  which  I  have  endeavored  to 
describe  ;  and  certainly  the  motto  of  the  place  might  be  that  of 
old  Goethe's  ring — 

**  <Dl)ne  past,  o{)nc  rast." 

Having  followed  a  set  of  bottles  from  the  brunnen  to  the  store, 
where  I  left  them  resting  from  their  labors,  I  strolled  to  another 
part  of  the  establishment,  where  were  empty  bottles  calmly  wait- 
ing for  their  turn  to  be  filled.  I  here  counted  twenty-five 
bins  of  bottles,  each  four  yards  broad,  six  yards  deep,  and 
eight  feet  high.  A  number  of  young  girls  were  carrying 
thirty-four  of  them  at  a  time  on  their  heads  to  an  immense  trough, 
which  was  kept  constantly  full  by  a  large  fountain  pipe  of  beau- 
tiful clear  fresh  water.  The  bottles  on  arriving  here  were  brim- 
full  (as  I  conceived  for  the  purpose  of  being  washed),  and  were 
then  ranged  in  ranks,  or  rather  solid  columns,  of  seven  hundred 
each,  there  being  ten  rows  of  seventy  bottles. 

It  being  now  seven  o'clock,  a  bell  rang  as  a  signal  for  giving 
over  work,  and  the  whole  process  came  suddenly  to  an  end  :  for 
a  few  seconds,  the  busy  laborers  (as  in  a  disturbed  ant-heap)  wer6 
seen  irregularly  hurrying  in  every  direction  ;  but,  in  a  very  shon 
time,  all  had  vanished.  During  some  minutes  I  ruminated  in 
solitude  about  the  premises,  and  then  set  out  to  take  up  my  abode 
for  the  night  at  the  village,  or  rather  town,  of  Nieder-Selters  : 
however,  I  had  no  sooner,  as  I  vainly  thought,  bidden  adieu  to 
bottles,  than  I  saw,  like  Birnham  Wood  coming  to  Dunsinane, 
bottles  approaching  me  in  every  possible  variety  of  attitude.  It 
appears  that  all  the  inhabitants  of  Nieder-Selters  are  in  the  habit 
of  drinking  in  their  houses  this  refreshing  water  ;  but,  as  the 
brunnen  is  in  requisition  by  the  Duke  all  day  long,  it  is  only  be- 
fore or  after  work  that  the  private  supply  can  be  obtained  :  no 


160  BUBBLES. 


sooner,  therefore,  does  the  evening  bell  ring,  than  every  child  in 
the  village  is  driven  out  of  its  house  to  take  empty  bottles  to  the 
brunnen  ;  and  it  was  this  singular-looking  legion  which  was  now 
approaching  me.  The  children  really  looked  as  if  they  were 
made  of  bottles ;  some  wore  a  pyramid  of  them  in  baskets  on 
their  heads — some  were  laden  with  them  hanging  over  their 
shoulders  before  and  behind — some  carried  them  strapped  round 
their  middle — all  had  their  hands  full  ;  and  the  little  urchins  that 
could  scarcely  walk  were  advancing,  each  hugging  in  its  arms 
one  single  bottle  !  In  fact,  at  Nieder-Selters,  "  an  infant "  means 
a  being  totally  unable  to  carry  a  bottle  ;  puberty  and  manhood 
are  proved  by  bottles ;  a  strong  man  brags  of  the  number  he  can 
carry  ;  and  superannuation  means  being  no  longer  able  in  this 
world  to  bear  ....  bottles. 

The  road  to  the  brunnen  is  actually  strewed  with  fragments, 
and  so  are  the  ditches ;  and  when  the  reader  is  informed  that, 
besides  all  he  has  so  patiently  heard,  bottles  are  not  only  expend- 
ed, filled,  and  exported,  but  actually  are  made  at  Nieder-Selters, 
he  must  admit  that  no  writer  can  possibly  do  justice  to  that  place 
unless  every  line  of  his  description  contains  at  least  once  the 
word  ....  bottle.  The  moralists  of  Nieder-Selters  preach  on 
bottles.  Life,  they  say,  is  a  sound  bottle,  and  death  a  cracked  one 
— thoughtless  men  are  empty  bottles — drunken  men  are  leaky 
ones ;  and  a  man  highly  educated,  fit  to  appear  in  any  country 
and  in  any  societ}^,  is,  of  course,  a  bottle  corked,  rosined,  and 
stamped  with  the  seal  of  the  Duke  of  Nassau. 

As  soon  as  I  reached  the  village  inn,  I  found  there  all  the 
slight  accommodation  I  required  :  a  tolerable  dinner  soon  smoked 
on  the  table  before  me  ;  and,  feeling  that  I  had  seen  quite  enough 
for  one  day  of  brovn  stone  bottles,  I  ventured  to  order  (merely 
for  a  change)  a  long-necked  glass  one  of  a  vegetable  fluid  supe- 
rior to  all  the  mineral  water  in  the  world. 

The  following  morning,  previous  to  returning  to  the  brunnen,  I 
strolled  for  some  time  about  the  village  ;  and  the  best  analysis  I 
can  offer  of  the  Selters  water  is  the  plain  fact,  that  the  inhabitants 
of  the  village,  who  have  drunk  it  all  their  lives,  are  certainly,  by 
many  degrees,  the  healthiest  and  ruddiest  looking  peasants  I  have 
anywhere  met  with  in  the  dominions  of  the  Duke  of  Nassau. 


NIEDER-SELTERS.  161 


This  day  being  a  festival,  on  reaching  the  brunnen  at  eleven 
o'clock  I  found  it  entirely  deserted — no  human  being  was  to  be 
seen  ;  all  had  been  working  from  three  o'clock  in  the  morning 
till  nine,  but  tliey  were  now  in  church,  and  were  not  to  return  to 
their  labor  till  twelve,  I  had,  therefore,  the  whole  establishment 
to  myself;  and  going  to  the  famous  brunnen,  my  first  object  was 
to  taste  its  waters.  On  drinking  it  fresh  from  the  source,  I  ob- 
served that  it  possessed  a  strong  chalybeate  taste,  which  I  had 
never  perceived  on  receiving  it  from  a  bottle.  The  three  iron 
crates  suspended  to  the  arms  of  the  crane  were  empty,  and  there 
was  nothing  at  all  upon  the  wooden  dressers  which,  the  evening 
before,  I  had  seen  so  busily  crowded  and  surrounded :  in  the 
middle  of  the  great  square  were  the  stools  on  which  the  cork- 
covering  women  had  sat ;  while  at  some  distance  to  the  left,  were 
the  solid  columns,  or  regiments,  of  uncorked  bottles,  which  I  had 
seen  filled  brimful!  with  pure  crystal  water  the  evening  before. 
On  approaching  this  brown-looking  army,  I  was  exceedingly 
surprised  at  observing  from  a  distance  that  several  of  the  bottles 
were  noseless,  and  I  was  wondering  why  such  should  ever  have 
been  filled,  when,  on  getting  close  to  these  troops,  I  perceived  to 
my  utter  astonishment,  that  not  only  about  one-third  of  them  were 
in  the  same  mutilated  state,  but  that  their  noses  were  calmly 
lying  by  their  sides  supported  by  the  adjoining  bottles !  What 
could  possibly  have  been  the  cause  of  the  fatal  disaster  which  in 
one  single  night  had  so  dreadfully  disfigured  them,  I  was  totally 
at  a  loss  to  imagine  :  the  devastation  which  had  taken  place  re- 
sembled the  riddling  of  an  infantry  regiment  under  a  heavy  fire  ; 
yet  few  of  our  troops,  even  at  Waterloo,  lost  so  great  a  proportion 
of  their  men  as  had  fallen  in  twelve  hours  among  these  immov- 
able  phalanxes  of  bottles.  Had  they  been  corked  one  might  have 
supposed  that  they  had  exploded,  but  why  nothing  but  their  noses 
had  suffered  I  really  felt  quite  incompetent  to  explain. 

As  it  is  always  better  honestly  to  confess  one's  ignorance, 
rather  than  exist  under  its  torture,  with  a  firm  step  I  walked  to 
the  door  of  the  governor  of  the  brunnen  ;  and  sending  up  to  him 
a  card,  bearing  the  name  under  which  I  travelled,  he  instantly 
appeared,  politely  assuring  me  that  he  should  have  much  plea- 
sure in  affording  any  information  I  desired. 
12 


162 


BUBBLES. 


Instantly  pointing  to  the  noseless  soldiers,  my  instructor  was 
good  enough  to  inform  me  that  bottles  in  vast  numbers  being 
supplied  to  the  Duke  from  various  manufactories,  in  order  to 
prove  them,  they  are  filled  brimfull  (as  I  had  seen  them)  with 
water,  and  being  left  in  the  same  state  for  the  night,  they  are  the 
next  morning  visited  by  an  officer  of  the  Duke,  whose  wand  of 
office  is  a  thin,  long-handled,  little  hammer,  which  at  the  moment 
happened  to  be  lying  before  us  on  the  ground. 

It  appears  that  the  two  prevailing  sins  to  which  stone  bottles 
are  prone,  are  having  cracks,  and  being  porous,  in  either  of  which 
cases  they,  of  course,  in  twelve  hours,  leak  a  little. 

The  Duke's  officer,  who  is  judge  and  jury  in  his  own  court- 
yard,  carries  his  own  sentences  into  execution  with  a  rapidity 
which  even  our  Lord  Chancellor  himself  can  only  hope  eventu- 
ally to  imitate.  Glancing  his  hawk-like  eye  along  each  line,  the 
instant  he  sees  a  bottle  not  brimfull,  without  listening  to  long- 
winded  arguments,  he  at  once  decides  "  that  there  can  be  no 
mistake — that  there  shall  be  no  mistake  ;"  and  thus  at  one  blow 
or  tap  of  the  hammer,  off  goes  the  culprit's  nose.  "  So  much  for 
Buckingham  !" 

Feeling  quite  relieved  by  this  solution  of  the  mystery,  I  troubled 
the  governor  with  a  few  questions,  in  reply  to  which  he  very  kindly 
conducted  me  to  his  counting-house,  where,  in  the  most  liberal  and 
gentleman-like  manner,  he  gave  me  all  the  data  I  required. 

The  following,  which  I  extracted  from  the  day-book,  is  a  state- 
ment showing  the  number  of  bottles  which  were  filled  for  expor- 
tation during  the  year  1832,  with  the  proportionate  number  filled 
during  each  month. 

January,  1832 

February 

March 

April 

May 

June 

July       . 

August 

September     . 

October 

November 

December 


Large. 

Small. 

301 

25 

9,235 

2,100 

304,529 

95,714 

207,887 

49,562 

167,706 

61,589 

155,688 

14,063 

76,086 

16,388 

58,848 

9,159 

27,216 

9,555 

23,512 

3,297 

2,523 

25 

151 

44 

1,033,662       261,521 


NIEDER-SELTERS.  163 


Besides  the  above,  there  is  a  private  consumption,  amounting, 
on  an  average,  to  very  nearly  half  a  million  of  bottles  per  annum. 
It  will,  I  hope,  be  recollected,  that  by  the  time  a  bottle  is  sealed, 
it  has  undergone  fifteen  operations,  all  performed  by  different 
people  The  Duke,  in  his  payments,  does  not  enter  into  these 
details,  but,  delivering  his  own  bottles,  he  gives  17^  kreuzers 
(nearly  sixpence)  for  every  hundred,  large  or  small,  which  are 
placed,  filled,  in  his  magazines.  The  peasants,  therefore,  either 
share  their  labor  and  profits  among  themselves,  or  the  whole  of 
the  operations  are  occasionally  performed  by  the  different  mem- 
bers of  one  famil)^ ;  but  so  much  activity  is  required  in  con- 
stantly stopping  and  carrying  off  the  bottles,  that  this  work  is 
principally  performed  by  young  women  of  eighteen  or  nineteen, 
assembled  from  all  the  neighboring  villages ;  and  who,  by  work- 
ing from  three  in  the  morning  till  seven  at  night,  can  gain  a  florin 
a  day,  or  30  florins  a  month,  Sunday  (excepting  during  prayers) 
not  being,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  at  Nieder-Selters,  a  day  of  rest. 

For  the  bottles  themselves  the  Duke  pays  4^  florins  per  cent. 
for  the  large  ones,  and  3  florins  per  cent,  for  the  small  ones. 
The  large  bottles,  when  full,  he  sells  at  the  brunnen  for  13  florins 
a  hundred. 

His  profit,  last  year,  deducting  all  expenses,  appeared  to  be,  as 
nearly  as  possible,  50,000  florins ;  and  yet,  this  brunnen  was 
originally  sold  to  the  Duke's  ancestor  for  a  sino;le  butt  of  wine  ! 

On  coming  out  of  the  office,  the  establishment  was  all  alive  again, 
and  the  peasants  being  in  their  Sunday  clothes,  the  picture  was 
highly  colored.  Young  women  in  groups  of  four  and  five,  with 
little  white  or  red  caps  perched  on  the  tops  of  their  heads,  from 
which  streamed  three  or  four  broad  ribands  of  different  colors, 
denoting  the  villages  they  proceeded  from,  in  various  directions, 
singing  as  they  went,  were  walking  together,  heavily  laden  with 
bottles.  They  were  dressed  in  blue  petticoats,  clean  white  shifts 
tucked  above  the  elbows,  with  colored  stays  laced,  or  rather  half 
unlaced,  in  front.  Old  women,  covering  the  corks  with  leather, 
in  similar  costume,  but  in  colors  less  gaudy,  were  displaying  an 
activity  much  more  vigorous  than  their  period  of  life.  Across 
this  party-colored,  well-arranged  system,  which  was  as  regular 
in  its  movements  as  the  planets  in  their  orbits,  an  officer  of  the 


164  BUBBLES. 


Duke,  like  a  comet,  occasionally  darted  from  the  office  to  the 
brunnen,  or  from  the  tiers  of  empty  bottles  which  had  not  yet 
been  proved,  to  the  magazine  of  full  ones  ready  to  embark  on 
their  travels. 

In  quitting  the  premises,  as  I  passed  the  regiments  of  bottles, 
an  operation  was  proceeding  which  I  had  not  before  witnessed. 
Women  in  wooden  shoes  were  reversing  the  full  bottles  ;  in  fact, 
without  driving  these  brown  soldiers  from  their  position,  they  were 
making  them  stand  upon  their  heads  instead  of  upon  their  heels — 
the  object  of  this  military  somerset  being  to  empty  them ;  how- 
ever,  every  noseless  bottle,  w^ater  and  all,  was  hurled  over  a 
wall,  into  a  bin  prepared  on  purpose  to  receive  them ;  and  the 
smashing  sound  of  devastation  which  proceeded  from  this  odd-look- 
ing operation  it  would  be  very  difficult  to  describe. 

Having  now  witnessed  about  as  much  as  I  desired  of  the  lively 
brunnen  of  Nieder-Selters,  I  bade  adieu  to  this  well-regulated 
establishment,  feeling  certain  that  its  portrait  would,  in  future, 
re-appear  before  my  mind,  in  all  its  vivid  colors,  whensoever  and 
wheresoever  I  might  drink  the  refreshing,  wholesome  beverage 
obtained  from  its  bright,  sparkling  source.  My  carriage  had  long 
been  waiting  at  the  gate  ;  however,  having  aroused  my  lumber- 
ing and  slumbering  driver,  I  retraced  my  steps,  was  slowly  re- 
jolted  homeward,  and  it  was  late  before  I  reached  my  peaceful 
abode  in  the  gay,  green  little  valley  of  Schlangenbad. 


THE  MONASTERY  OF  EBERBACH.  165 


THE  MONASTERY  OF  EBERBACH. 


Exactly  at  the  appointed  moment,  Luy  with  his  favorite  ass, 
Katherinchen,  appeared  at  the  door  of  the  new  Bad-Haus ;  the  day, 
overcast  with  clouds,  was  quite  cool,  and,  under  such  favorable 
auspices,  starting  at  twelve  o'clock,  in  less  than  a  hundred  yards 
we  were  all  hidden  in  the  immense  forest  which  encircles  that 
portion  of  the  duchy  of  Nassau  which  looks  down  upon  the  Maine 
and  the  Rhine.  For  about  an  hour,  the  ass,  who  after  the  second 
turn  seemed  to  be  perfectly  sensible  where  she  was  carrying  me, 
patiently  threaded  her  way  along  narrow  paths,  which,  constantly 
crossing  each  other  at  various  angles,  seemed  sufficient  to  puzzle 
even  the  brain  of  a  philosopher  :  however,  although  human  intel- 
lect is  said  to  be  always  on  the  march,  yet  we  often  find  brute 
instinct  far  before  it ;  and  certainly  it  did  appear  that  Katherin- 
chen's  knowledge  of  the  carte  du  pays  of  Nassau  was  equal 
almost  to  that  of  "  The  Duke  "  himself.  Sometimes  we  suddenly 
came  to  tracks  of  wheels  which  seemed  to  have  been  formed  by 
carriages  that  had  not  only  dropped  from,  but  had  returned  back 
to,  the  clouds,  for  they  began  a  propos  to  nothing,  and  vanished 
in  an  equally  unaccountable  manner.  Sometimes  we  came  to 
patches  bare  of  timber,  except  here  and  there  an  old  oak  left  on 
purpose  to  supply  acorns  for  the  swine  ;  then  again  we  followed 
a  path  which  seemed  only  to  belong  to  deer,  being  so  narrow  that 
we  were  occasionally  obliged  to  force  our  way  through  the 
bushes ;  at  last,  all  of  a  sudden,  I  unexpectedly  found  myself  on 
the  very  brink  of  a  most  picturesque  and  precipitous  valley. 

Close  above  me,  standing  proudly  on  its  rock,  and  pointing  to  a 
heavy  white  cloud  which  happened  at  the  moment  to  be  passing 


1G6  BUBBLES. 


over  it,  was  the  great  pillar  or  tower  of  Sharfenstein,  a  castle  for- 
merly the  residence  of  the  bishops  of  Mainz.  The  village  of 
Kiedrich  lay  crouching  at  a  considerable  depth  beneath,  the  pre- 
cipitous bank  which  connected  us  with  it  being  a  vineyard,  in 
which  every  here  and  there  were  seen  flights  of  rough  stone  steps, 
to  enable  the  peasants  to  climb  to  their  work.  By  a  rocky  path, 
about  a  foot  or  nine  inches  broad,  Katherinchen,  with  Luy  follow- 
ino-  as  if  tied  to  her  tail,  diagonally  descended  through  this  grape 
garden,  until  we  at  last  reached  the  village  mill,  the  wheel  of 
which  I  had  long  observed  indolently  turning  under  a  stream  of 
water  scarcely  heavy  enough  for  its  purpose.  The  little  village 
of  Kiedrich,  as  I  rode  by  it,  appeared  to  be  a  confused  congrega- 
tion of  brown  hovels  and  green  gardens,  excepting  a  large  slated 
mansion  of  the  Baron  von  Ritter,  whose  tower  of  Sharfenstein 
now  seemed  in  the  clouds,  as  if  to  draw  the  lightning  from  the 
village  ;  and  almost  breaking  my  neck  to  look  up  to  it,  I  could 
not  help  feeling,  as  I  turned  towards  the  east,  how  proud  its  laird 
must  be  at  seeing  every  morning  its  gigantic  shadow  lying  across 
the  valley,  then  paying  its  diurnal  visit  to  every  habitation,  thus 
eclipsing  for  a  few  moments,  from  each  vassal,  even  the  sun  in 
the  heavens. 

After  passing  Kiedrich,  I  again  entered  the  forest,  and  for  above 
an  hour  there  was  little  to  be  seen  except  the  noble  trees  which 
encompassed  me  ;  but  the  mind  soon  gets  accustomed  to  ever  so 
short  a  tether,  and  though  I  could  seldom  see  fifty  yards,  yet 
within  that  distance  there  existed  always  plenty  of  minute  objects 
to  interest  me.  The  foliage  of  the  beeches  shone  beautifully  clear 
and  brilliant,  and  there  were  new  shoots,  which,  being  lighter  in 
color  than  the  old,  had  much  the  appearance  of  the  autumnal  tint, 
yet  when  the  error  was  discovered,  one  gladly  acknowledged  that 
youth  had  been  mistaken  for  age.  The  forest  now  suddenly 
changed  from  beech  trees  into  an  army  of  oaks  which  seemed  to 
be,  generally  speaking,  about  fifty  years  of  age :  among  them, 
however,  there  stood  here  and  there  a  few  weather-beaten  veterans, 
who  had  survived  the  race  of  comrades  with  whom  they  had  once 
flourished ;  but  we  must  drop  the  military  metaphor,  for  their 
hearts  were  gone — their  bodies  had  mouldered  away — nothing 
but  one  side  was  left — in  fact,  they  were  more  like  sentry-boxes 


THE  MONASTERY  OF  EBERBACH.  167 

than  sentinels,  and  yet,  in  this  decayed  state,  they  were  decked 
with  leaves  as  cheerfully  as  the  rest.  In  this  verdant  picture 
there  was  one  pale  object  which,  for  a  few  moments,  as  I  passed 
it,  particularly  attracted  my  attention :  it  was  an  immense  oak, 
which  had  been  struck  dead  by  lightning ;  it  had  been,  and  in- 
deed still  was,  the  tallest  to  be  seen  in  the  forest,  and  pride  and 
presumption  had  apparently  drawn  it  to  its  fate.  Every  leaf, 
every  twig,  every  small  branch  was  gone  ; — barkless — blasted — 
and  blanched, — its  limbs  seemed  stretched  into  the  harshest  out- 
lines ;  a  human  corpse  could  not  form  a  greater  contrast  with  a 
living  man,  than  this  tree  did  with  the  soft  green  foliage  waving 
around  it;  it  stood  stark — stiff — ^jagged  as  the  lightning  itself; 
and  as  its  forked,  sapless  branches  pointed  towards  the  sky, 
it  seemed  as  if  no  one  could  dare  pass  it  without  secretly  feeling 
that  there  exists  a  power  which  can  annihilate  as  well  as  create, 
and  that  what  the  fool  said  in  his  heart — was  wrong  !  I,  however, 
had  not  much  time  for  this  sort  of  reflection,  for  whenever  Kathe- 
rinchen,  coming  to  two  paths,  selected  the  right  one,  Luy  from 
behind  was  heard  loudly  applauding  her  sagacity,  which  he  had 
previously  declared  to  be  superior  to  that  of  all  the  asses  in  Nas- 
sau— and  yet  Luy,  in  his  more  humble  department,  deserved  quite 
as  much  praise  as  Katherinchen  herself. 

He  was  a  slender,  intelligent,  active  man,  of  about  thirty, 
dressed  in  a  blue  smock-frock,  girded  round  the  middle  by  the 
buff  Nassau  belt ;  and  though,  from  some  cause  or  other,  which 
he  could  never  satisfactorily  account  for,  his  mouth  always  smelt 
of  rum,  yet  he  was  never  at  a  loss — always  ready  for  an  expedi- 
tion, and  foot-sore  or  not,  the  day  seemed  never  long  enough  to 
tire  him.  The  fellow  was  naturally  of  an  enterprising  disposition, 
and  the  winters  in  Nassau  being  long  and  cheerless,  it  occurred 
to  Luy  on  his  march,  that  were  he  with  Katherinchen  and  his 
other  two  asses  to  go  to  England  (of  which  he  had  only  heard  that 
it  was  the  richest  country  under  the  sun),  they  would  no  doubt 
there  be  constantly  employed  for  the  whole  twelvemonth,  instead 
of  only  finding  lady  and  gentlemen  riders  at  Schlangenbad  for  a 
couple  of  months  in  the  year.  His  project  seemed  to  himself  a 
most  brilliant  one,  and  though  I  could  not  enter  into  it  quite  as 
warmly  as  he  did  (indeed  I  almost  ruined  his  hopes  by  merely 


168  BUBBLES. 


hinting  that  our  sea,  which  he  had  never  heard  of,  might  possibly 
object  to  his  driving  asses  from  Schlangenbad  to  London),  yet  I 
inwardly  felt  that  poor  Luy's  speculation  had  quite  as  sound  a 
foundation,  displayed  quite  as  much  knowledge  of  the  world,  and 
had  infinitely  less  roguery  in  it,  than  the  bubble  projects  of  more 
civilized  countries,  which  have  too  often  eventually  turned  out  to 
be  nothing  more  nor  less  than  ass-driving  with  a  vengeance. 

After  winding  my  way  through  the  trees  for  a  considerable 
time,  inclining  gently  to  the  left,  I  suddenly  saw  close  before  me, 
at  the  bottom  of  a  most  sequestered  valley,  the  object  of  my  jour- 
ney,— namely,  the  very  ancient  monastery  of  Eberbach.  The 
sylvan  loveliness,  and  the  peaceful  retirement  of  this  spot,  I 
strongly  feel  it  is  quite  impossible  to  describe.  Almost  surrounded 
by  hills  or  rather  mountains,  clothed  with  forest  trees,  one  does 
not  expect  to  find  at  the  bottom  of  such  a  valley  an  immense  soli- 
tary building,  which  in  size  and  magnificence  not  only  corre- 
sponds with  the  bold  features  of  the  country,  but  seems  worthy  of 
a  place  in  any  of  the  largest  capitals  of  Europe. 

The  irregular  building,  with  its  dome,  spires,  statues,  and  high 
slated  roofs,  looks  like  the  palace  of  some  powerful  king ;  and  yet 
the  monarch  has  apparently  no  subjects  but  the  forest  trees, 
which  on  all  sides  almost  touch  the  architecture,  and  even  closely 
environ  the  garden  walls. 

A  spot  better  suited  to  any  being  or  race  of  beings  who  wished 
to  say  to  the  world,  "  Fare  thee  well ;  and  if  for  ever,  still  for  ever 
fare  thee  wellV  could  scarcely  be  met  with  on  its  vast  circum- 
ference ;  and  certainly,  if  it  were  possible  for  the  vegetable  crea- 
tion to  compensate  a  man  for  losing  the  society  of  his  fellow- 
creatures,  the  woods  of  Eberbach  would,  in  a  high  degree,  alibrd 
him  that  consolation. — A  more  lovely  and  romantic  situation  for  a 
monastery  could  not  have  existed ;  yet  I  should  have  wondered 
how  it  could  possibly  have  been  discovered,  had  not  its  history 
most  clearly  explained  that  marvel. 

In  the  year  1131,  St.  Bernhard,  the  famous  preacher  of  the 
crusade  (whose  followers  eventually  possessed,  merely  in  the 
Rhine-gau,  six  monastic  establishments — namely,  Tiefenthal, 
Gottesthal,  Eberbach,  Eibinger,  Nothgottes,  and  Marienhausen), 
was  attacked  by  a  holy  itch,  or  irresistible  determination  to  erect 


THE  MONASTERY  OF  EBERBACH.  IGO 


a  monastery  ;  but  not  knowing  where  to  drop  the  foundation-stone, 
he  consulted,  it  is  said,  a  wild  boar,  on  this  important  subject. 
The  sagacious  creature  shrewdly  listened  to  the  human  being  who 
addressed  it ;  and  a  mysterious  meeting  being  agreed  upon,  he 
silently  grubbed  with  his  snout,  in  the  valley  of  Eberbach,  lines 
marking  out  the  foundation  of  the  building ;  and  certainly  such  a 
lovely  stye,  for  men  basking  in  sunshine,  to  snore  away  their  ex- 
istence, no  animal  but  a  pig  would  ever  have  thought  of! 

St.  Bernhard,  highly  approving  of  the  boar's  taste,  employed 
the  best  architects  to  carry  his  plan  into  execution ;  and  sparing 
no  expense,  a  magnificent  cathedral — a  large  palace  with  a  mo- 
nastery connected  together  by  colonnades,  as  well  as  ornamented 
in  various  places  with  the  image  of  a  pig,  its  founder — w^ere 
quickly  reared  upon  the  spot ;  and  when  all  was  completed,  monks 
were  brought  to  the  abode,  and  the  holy  hive,  for  many  centuries, 
was  heard  buzzing  in  the  wild  mountains  which  surrounded  it : 
however,  in  the  year  1803,  the  Duke  of  Nassau  took  violent  pos- 
session of  its  honey,  and  its  inmates  were  thus  rudely  shaken  from 
their  cells.  Three  or  four  of  the  monks,  of  this  once  wealthy 
establishment,  are  all  that  now  remain  in  existence,  and  their 
abode  has  ever  since  been  used  partly  as  a  government  prison, 
and  partly  as  a  public  asylum  for  lunatics. 

Before  entering  the  great  gate,  which  was  surmounted  by  colos- 
sal figures  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  St.  John,  and  the  great  S.  Bern- 
hard  himself,  I  was  advised  by  my  cicerone,  Luy,  to  go  to  some 
grotto  he  kept  raving  about ;  and  as  Katherinchen's  nose  also  seem- 
ed placidly  to  point  the  same  way,  I  left  the  monastery,  and  through 
a  plantation  of  very  fine  oaks,  which  were  growing  about  twenty 
feet  asunder,  we  ascended,  by  zigzags,  a  hill  surmounted  by  a 
beautiful  plantation  of  firs  ;  and  the  moment  I  reached  the  sum- 
mit,  there  suddenly  flashed  upon  me  a  view  of  the  Rhine,  which, 
without  any  exception,  I  should  say,  is  the  finest  I  have  witnessed 
in  this  country.  Uninterrupted  by  anything  but  its  own  long, 
narrow  islands,  I  beheld  tlie  course  of  the  river,  from  Johannis- 
burg  to  Mainz,  which  two  points  formed,  from  the  grotto  where  I 
stood,  an  angle  of  about  120  degrees.  Between  me  and  the  water, 
lay,  basking  in  the  sunshine,  the  Rhein-gau,  covered  with  vine- 
yards, or  surrounded  by  large  patches  of  corn,  which  were  evi- 


170  BUBBLES. 


dently  just  ready  for  the  sickle  ;  but  the  harvest  not  having  ac- 
tually commenced,  the  only  moving  objects  in  the  picture  were 
young  women  with  white  handkerchiefs  on  their  heads,  busily 
pruning  the  vines ;  and  the  Coin,  or,  as  it  might  more  properly 
be  termed,  the  English  steam-boat,  which,  immediately  before  me, 
was  gliding  against  the  stream  towards  Mainz.  On  the  opposite 
side  of  the  Rhine,  an  immense  country,  highly  cultivated,  but 
without  a  fence,  was  to  be  seen. 

Turning  my  back  upon  this  noble  prospect,  the  monastery  lay 
immediately  beneath  me,  so  completely  surrounded  by  the  forest, 
that  it  looked  as  if,  ready-built,  it  had  been  dropped  from  heaven 
upon  its  site. 

A  more  noble-looking  residence  could  hardly  be  imagined,  and 
the  zigzag  walks  and  plantations  of  fir  imparted  to  it  a  gentleman- 
like appearance,  which  I  could  not  sufficiently  admire ;  yet,  not- 
withstanding the  rural  beauty  of  the  place,  I  felt  within  me  a 
strong  emotion  of  pity  for  those  poor,  forlorn,  misguided  beings, 
whose  existence  had  been  uselessly  squandered  in  such  mistaken 
seclusion  ;  and  I  could  not  help  fancying  how  acutely,  from  the 
spot  on  which  I  stood,  they  might  have  compared  the  moral  lone- 
liness of  their  mansion  with  the  natural  joy  and  loveliness  of  that 
river  scenery  from  which  their  relentless  mountain  had  severed 
them :  indeed,  I  hope  my  reader  will  not  think  an  old  man  too 
Anacreontic  for  saying,  that  if  anything  in  this  world  could  pene- 
trate the  sackcloth  garment  of  a  monk,  "  and  wring  his  bosom," 
it  would  be  the  sight  of  what  I  had  just  turned  my  back  upon — 
namely,  a  vineyard  full  of  women  !  That  the  fermentation  of 
the  grape  was  intended  to  cheer  decrepitude,  and  that  the  affec- 
tions of  a  softer  sex  were  made  to  brighten  the  zenith  of  mid-day 
life,  are  truths  which,  within  the  walls  of  a  convent  or  a  monastery, 
it  must  have  been  most  exquisite  torture  to  reflect  upon. 

As  I  descended  from  the  grotto,  I  saw  beneath  me,  entering  the 
great  gate  of  the  building,  half  a  dozen  carts  laden  vvith  wood, 
each  drawn  by  six  prisoners.  None  being  in  irons,  and  the  whole 
gang  being  escorted  by  a  single  soldier  in  the  Nassau  uniform,  [ 
was  at  first  surprised, — why,  when  they  penetrated  the  forest, 
they  did  not  all  run  away  !  However,  fear  of  punishment  held 
them  together  :  there  being  no  large  cities  in  the  duchy,  they  had 


THE  MONASTERY  OF  EBERBACH.  171 


nowhere  to  run,  but  to  their  own  homes,  where  they  would  in- 
stantly have  been  recaptured  ;  and  though,  to  a  stranger  like  my- 
self,  the  forest  seemed  to  offer  them  protection,  yet  it  was  certain 
death  by  starvation  to  remain  in  it. 

On  entering  the  great  square,  I  found  it  would  be  necessary  to 
apply  to  the  commandant  of  the  establishment  for  permission  to 
view  it.  I  accordingly  waited  upon  him,  and  was  agreeably  sur- 
prised at  being  politely  informed  by  him,  in  English,  that  he  would 
be  proud  and  most  happy  to  attend  me.  He  was  a  fine,  erect, 
soldier-like  looking  man,  of  about  forty,  seventeen  years  of  which 
he  had  reigned  in  this  valley  over  prisoners  and  lunatics ;  the 
average  number  of  the  former  being  250,  and  of  the  latter  about 
100. 

As  I  was  following  him  along  some  very  handsome  cloisters,  I 
observed,  hanging  against  a  wall,  twenty-five  pictures  in  oil,  of 
monks,  all  dressed  in  the  same  austere  costume,  and  in  features 
as  in  dress  so  much  resembling  each  other,  that  the  only  apparent 
distinction  between  them  was  the  name  of  each  individual,  whose 
barren,  useless  existence  was  thus  intended  to  be  commemorated 
beyond  the  narrow  grave  which  contained  him.  Ascending  a 
stone  staircase,  I  now  came  to  the  lower  division  of  the  prison, 
one-half  being  appropriated  to  women,  and  the  other  to  men. 

Although  I  had  been  for  the  whole  day  enjoying  pure  fresh  air, 
yet  the  establishment  was  so  exceedingly  clean,  that  there  was  no 
smell  of  any  sort  to  ofiend  me.  The  monks'  cells  had  in  many 
places  been  thrown  by  threes  into  large  rooms  for  tailors,  weavers, 
carpenters,  shoemakers,  &c.,  &c. — each  of  these  trades  working 
separately,  under  the  direction  of  one  overseer.  In  all  these 
chambers  every  window  was  wide  open,  the  walls  were  white- 
washed, and  the  blanched  floors  were  without  stain ;  indeed,  this 
excessive  cleanliness,  although  highly  praised  by  me,  and  exceed- 
ino-ly  attractive  to  any  English  traveller,  probably  forms  no  small 
part  of  the  punishment  of  the  prison ;  for  there  is  nothing  that 
practically  teases  dirty  people  more  than  to  inflict  upon  tiiem 
foreign  habits  of  cleanliness.  The  women's  rooms  were  similarly 
arrano-ed,  and  the  same  cleanliness  and  industry  insisted  upon ; 
while,  for  younger  culprits,  there  was  an  excellent  school,  where 
they  were  daily  taught  religious  singing,  reading,  writing,  arith- 


172  BUBBLES. 


metic,  and  weaving.  Having  finished  with  this  floor,  I  mounted 
to  the  upper  story,  where,  in  solitary  cells,  were  confined  patients 
who  had  relapsed,  or,  in  plainer  terms,  culprits  who  had  been 
convicted  a  second  time  of  the  same  offence. 

Many  of  these  unfortunate  people  were  undergoing  a  sentence 
of  three,  four,  and  five  years'  imprisonment:  and  to  visit  them,  as 
I  did  in  their  cells,  was,  I  can  assure  my  reader,  anything  but 
pleasing.  On  the  outside  of  each  door  hung  a  small  black  board, 
upon  which  M^as  laconically  inscribed,  in  four  words,  the  name 
and  surname  of  the  captive — his  or  her  offence — and  the  sentence. 
I  found  that  their  crimes,  generally  speaking,  were  what  we 
should  call  petty  thefts — such  as  killing  the  Duke's  game — steal- 
ing his  wood — his  grass,  &c.,  &c. 

As  I  paid  my  melancholy  visits,  one  after  another,  to  these  poor 
people,  I  particularly  observed  that  they  seemed,  at  least,  to  be 
in  the  enjoyment  (if,  without  liberty,  it  may  be  so  termed)  of 
good  health  ;  the  natural  effect  of  the  cool,  temperate  lives  they 
were  obliged  to  lead,  and  the  pure  fresh  air  which  came  to  each 
of  them  through  a  small  open  window  ;  yet  so  soon  as  their  doors 
were  opened  there  was  an  eagerness  in  their  countenances,  and 
a  peculiar  anxiety  in  their  manner  of  fixing  their  eyes  upon 
mine,  which  seemed  to  curdle  into  despondency,  as  the  door  was 
rapidly  closed  between  us.  Each  individual  had  some  work  to 
perform — one  man  had  just  finished  a  coffin  for  a  poor  maniac 
who  had  lately  ended  his  melancholy  career — the  lid,  instead  of 
being  flat,  was  a  four-sided  prism,  and  on  the  upper  slab,  there 
was  painted  in  black  a  cross  very  nearly  the  length  of  the  coffin. 

So  long  as  the  soldier,  in  his  buff  belt,  who  attended  the  com- 
mandant, continued  to  unlock  for  me  and  lock  the  dungeons  of 
the  male  prisoners,  so  long  did  I  feel  myself  capable  of  witnessing 
their  contents  ;  for  to  see  men  suffer,  is  what  we  are  all  more  or 
less  accustomed  to ;  but  as  soon  as  he  came  to  the  women's  cells, 
I  felt,  certainly  for  the  first  time  in  my  existence,  that  I  should 
be  obliged  to  abandon  my  colors,  and  cease  to  be  of  the  scene  be- 
fore me — a  "  reviewer." 

In  the  countenance  of  the  very  first  female  captive  that  I  be- 
held, I  could  not  but  remark  a  want  of  firmness,  for  the  possession 
of  which  I  had  not  given  to  the  other  sex  sufficient  credit — the 


THE  MONASTERY  OF  EBERBACH.  173 

poor  woman  (to  be  sure  she  might  have  been  a  mother)  showed 
an  anxiety  for  her  release  which  was  ahiaost  hysterical ;  and 
hurrying  towards  me,  she  got  so  close  to  the  door,  that  it  was  ab- 
solutely forcibly  slammed  by  the  soldier,  almost  in  her  face. 

In  the  third  cell  that  I  came  to,  there  stood  up  before  me  with 
a  distaff  in  her  hand,  a  young,  slight-made  peasant  girl  of  about 
eighteen ;  her  hair  was  black,  and  her  countenance  seemed  to  be 
beaming  Mith  innocence  and  excessive  health.  She  was  th6  only 
prisoner  who  did  not  immediately  fix  her  eyes  upon  mine  ;  but, 
neither  advancing  nor  retiring,  she  stood,  looking  downwards, 
with  an  expression  of  grief,  which  I  expected  every  moment, 
somewhere  or  other,  would  burst  into  tears.  Such  a  living  pic- 
ture of  youthful  unhappiness  I  felt  myself  incapable  of  gazing 
upon  ;  and  the  door,  being  closed  upon  her,  was  no  sooner  locked, 
than  I  thanked  the  commandant  for  his  civility,  adding,  that  I 
would  not  trouble  the  soldier  to  open  any  more  of  the  cells,  ob- 
serving, as  an  excuse,  that  I  perceived  they  were  all  alike. 

After  standing  some  time  and  listening  to  the  rules  and  disci- 
pline of  the  prison,  I  inquired  of  the  commandant  whether  he  had 
any  prisoners  confined  for  any  greater  crimes  than  those  which  I 
have  already  mentioned,  to  which  he  replied  in  the  negative  ;  and 
he  was  going  to  descend  the  staircase,  when  I  asked  him,  as  coldly 
as  I  could,  to  be  so  good  as  to  state  for  what  offence  the  young 
person  I  had  just  left  was  suffering  so  severely.  The  comman- 
dant,  with  silent  dignity,  instantly  referred  me  to  the  little  black 
board,  on  which  was  written  the  girl's  name  (I  need  not  repeat 
it)  and  her  crime,  which,  to  my  very  great  astonishment,  turned 
out  to  be  "dissolute  ;"  and  it  was  because  she  had  been  con- 
victed a  second  time  of  this  offence,  that  she  was  imprisoned,  as 
I  saw  her,  in  a  cell,  which,  like  the  others,  had  only  one  small 
window  in  the  roof,  from  which  nothing  was  to  be  seen  but  what 
she,  perhaps,  least  dared  to  look  at — the  heavens !  I  certainly, 
from  her  appearance,  did  not  judge  rightly  of  her  character  : 
however,  upon  such  points  I  neither  outv.ardly  profess,  nor  in- 
wardly do  I  believe  myself,  to  be  what  is  vulgarly  termed — 
knowing.  Had  I  looked  into  the  poor  girl's  countenance  for 
guilt,  it  is  most  probable  I  should  not  have  searched  there  in  vain, 
but  at  her  youthful  age,  one  sought  for  feelings  of  a  better  cast; 


174  BUBBLES. 


and,  notwithstanding  what  was  written  on  the  black  board,  those 
feelings  most  certainly  did  exist,  as  I  have  very  faintly  described 
them. 

I  now  accompanied  the  commandant  (going  along,  I  may  just 
observe  that  he  had  learned  English  from  his  father,  who  had 
served  as  an  officer  in  our  German  Legion)  to  another  part  of  the 
monastery,  which  had  long  been  fitted  up  as  an  asylum  for  luna- 
tics, most  of  whom  were  provided  for  by  the  Nassau  government, 
the  rest  being  people  of  family,  supplied  with  every  requisite  by 
their  friends. 

There  w^as  but  little  here  which  particularly  attracted  my 
attention.  In  clean,  airy  rooms,  formed  out  of  three  cells,  as  in 
the  prison,  there  lived  together  from  eight  to  ten  lunatics,  many 
of  whom  appeared  to  be  harmless  and  even  happy,  although,  in 
the  corner  of  the  room,  there  certainly  was  a  large  iron  cage  for 
refractory  or  dangerous  patients.  In  one  of  these  groups  stood  a 
madman,  who  had  been  a  medical  student.  He  was  about 
thirty  years  of  age,  extremely  dark,  exceedingly  powerfully  made, 
— and  no  sooner  did  I  enter  the  room,  than  raising  his  eyes  from 
a  book  w^hich  he  was  reading,  he  fixed  them  (folding  his  arms  at 
the  time)  upon  me,  with  a  ferocity  of  countenance,  which  formed 
a  very  striking  contrast  to  the  expression  of  imbecility  which 
characterized  the  rest  of  his  companions.  The  longer  he  looked 
at  me,  the  deeper  and  the  darker  was  his  frown  ;  and  though  I 
steadily  returned  it,  yet,  from  the  flashing  of  his  eyes,  I  really 
believed  that,  like  a  v.ild  beast,  he  would  have  sprung  upon  me, 
had  I  not  followed  the  soldier  to  the  next  room. 

Having  inspected  the  great  apartments,  I  next  visited  the  cells  in 
which  Avere  confined  those  who  were  not  fitted  for  intercourse  with 
others  ;  they  were  generally  of  a  gloomy  temperament.  Some 
were  lying  on  their  beds,  apparently  asleep  ;  while  some,  particu- 
larly women,  actually  tried  to  escape,  but  were  mildly  repressed 
by  the  commandant,  whose  manner  towards  them  seemed  to  be  an 
admirable  mixture,  in  about  equal  parts,  of  mildness  and  immova- 
ble firmness. 

I  should  have  continued  along  the  passage  which  connected 
these  cells,  but  the  poor  creature,  whose  coffin  I  had  seen,  was 
lying  there  ;  I  therefore  left  the  building,  and  went  into  a  great 


THE  MONASTERY  OF  EBERBACH.  175 

garden  of  the  monastcr^y,  filled  with  standard  fruit-trees,  which 
had  been  planted  there  by  the  monks.  In  this  secluded  spot  there 
was  a  sort  of  summer-house,  where  the  worst  lunatic  cases  were 
in  confinement ;  none,  however,  were  in  chains ;  though  some 
were  so  violent,  that  the  commandant  made  a  sign  to  the  soldier 
not  to  disturb  them. 

Having  now  very  gratefully  taken  leave  of  the  deserving  officer 
in  charge  of  this  singular  establishment  for  crime  and  lunacy,  the 
whole  of  which  was  admirably  kept  in  complete  subjection  by  a 
garrison  of  eight  soldiers,  for  a  considerable  time  I  strolled  alone 
about  the  premises.  Sometimes  I  looked  at  ancient  figures  of  a 
boar,  which  I  found  in  more  than  one  place,  rudely  carved  both 
on  wood  and  stone  ;  then  I  wandered  into  the  old  cathedral,  which 
was  now  strangely  altered  from  the  days  of  its  splendor,  for  the 
glass  in  its  Gothic  windows  having  been  broken,  had  been  plastered 
up  with  mud,  while  upon  the  tombs  of  bishops  and  of  abbots  there 
were  lying  corn  in  sheaves, — heaps  of  chaff, — bundles  of  green 
grass. 

My  attention  was  now  very  particularly  attracted  by  the  vene- 
rable entrance-gate  of  the  monastery,  which,  on  turning  a  corner, 
suddenly  appeared  before  me,  surmounted  by  colossal  statues  of 
the  Great  St.  Bernhard  with  his  crosier — of  St.  John,  holding  a 
long  thin  cross,  at  the  foot  of  which  there  was  seated  a  lamb — and 
the  Virgin  Mary,  who,  with  a  glory  round  her  head,  and  an  olive 
branch  in  her  hand,  stood  in  the  centre,  considerably  exalted  above 
both. 

The  sun  had  long  ago  set — and  I  was  no  sooner  immediately 
under  the  great  arched  gateway,  than,  leaning  on  my  staff,  I 
stood  as  it  were  riveted  to  the  ground  at  the  sight  of  the  moon, 
which,  having  risen  above  the  great  hill,  was  shining  directly 
upon  the  picturesque  pile  and  images  above  my  head. 

As  in  silence  and  solitude  I  gazed  upon  the  lovely  planet,  which 
majestically  rose  before  me,  growing  brighter  and  brighter  as  the 
daylight  decayed,  I  could  not  help  feeling  what  strange  changes 
she  had  witnessed  in  the  little  valley  of  Eberbach !  Before  the 
recorded  meeting  of  the  "  sus  atque  saccrdos,"  she  had  seen  it  for 
ages  and  ages  existing  alone  in  peaceful  retirement— one  genera- 
tion of  oaks  and  beech-trees  had  been  succeeded  by  another,  while 


176  BUBBLES. 


no  human  being  had  felt  disposed  either  to  flourish  or  to  decay 
among  this  vegetable  community.  After  this  solemn  interview 
with  the  pig,  she  had  seen  the  great  St.  Bernhard  collecting  work- 
men  and  materials,  and  as  in  the  midst  of  them  he  stood  waving 
his  cross,  she  had  observed  a  monastery  rise  as  if  by  magic  from 
the  earth,  rapidly  over-topping  the  highest  of  the  trees  which  sur- 
rounded it.  In  the  days  of  its  splendor  she  had  witnessed  provi- 
sions and  revenues  of  all  sorts  entering  its  lofty  walls,  but  though 
processions  glittered  in  its  interior,  nothing  was  known  by  her  to 
have  been  exported  save  a  matin  and  vesper  moan,  which,  accom- 
panying the  wind  as  it  swept  along  the  valley,  was  heard  gradu- 
ally dying,  until,  in  a  few  moments,  it  had  either  ceased  to  exist, 
or  it  had  lost  itself  among  the  calm,  gentle  rustling  of  the  leaves. 
Lastly,  she  had  seen  the  monks  of  St.  Bernhard  driven  from  their 
fastness — and  from  their  holy  cells,  as  with  full  splendor  she  had 
since  periodically  gazed  in  midnight  upon  the  convent,  too  often 
had  she  heard — first,  the  scream  of  the  poor  maniac,  uttered,  as 
her  round  gentle  light  shone  mildly  upon  his  brain  ;  and  then  his 
wild  laugh  of  grief,  as,  starting  from  a  distempered  sleep,  he  forced 
his  burning  forehead  against  the  barred  window  of  his  cell,  as  if, 
like  Henri  Quatre, — 

"  Pour  prendre  la  lune  avec  ses  dents." 

As  she  proceeded  in  her  silent  course,  shining  successively 
into  each  window  of  the  monastery,  how  often  did  she  now  see  the 
criminal  lying  on  the  couch  of  the  bigot — and  the  prostitute  soli- 
tarily immured  in  the  cell  of  celibacy  !  The  madman  is  now 
soundly  sleeping  where  the  fanatic  had  in  vain  sought  for  repose 
— and  the  knave  unwillingly  suffering  for  theft  where  the  hypo- 
crite had  voluntarily  confined  himself! 

From  a  crowd  of  these  reflections,  which,  like  mushrooms,  rapidly 
grew  up  by  the  light  of  the  moon,  I  was  aroused  by  Katherinchen 
and  her  satellite  Luy,  whose  heads  (scarcely  visible  from  the 
shadow  of  the  great  gateway),  pointing  homewards,  mildly  hinted 
that  it  was  time  I  should  return  there ;  but  on  my  entering  the 
convent,  rather  an  odd  scene  presented  itself.  The  supper  of  the 
lunatics,  distributed  in  separate  plates,  being  ready  in  the  great 


THE  MONASTERY  OF  EBERBACH.  177 

kitchen,  like  a  pack  of  hounds,  they  were  all  of  a  sudden  let  loose, 
and  their  appetites  sufficiently  governing  their  judgments,  each 
was  deemed  perfectly  competent  to  hunt  for  his  own  food,  which* 
was  no  sooner  obtained,  than,  like  an  ant,  he  busily  carried  it  off 
to  his  cell.  The  prisoners  were  also  fed  from  another  kitchen  at 
the  same  hour ;  and  as  certain  cravings,  which  with  considerable 
dignity  I  had  long  repressed,  were  painfully  irritated  by  the  very 
savory  smells  which  assailed  me,  stopping  for  a  moment,  I  most 
gladly  partook  of  the  madman's  fare,  and  then,  full  of  soup  and  of 
the  odd  scenes  I  had  witnessed,  leisurely  seating  myself  in  my 
saddle,  guided  by  Katherinchen,  and  followed  by  Luy,  we  retraced 
our  intricate  paths  through  the  forest,  until,  late  at  night,  we 
found  ourselves  once  again  in  sight  of  the  little  lamps  which  light 
up  the  garden  and  bowers  of  my  resting-place,  or  caravanserai — 
the  New  Bad-Haus  of  Schlangenbad. 
13 


178  BUBBLES. 


JOURNEY  TO  MAINZ 


Having  occasion  to  go  to  Mainz,  I  sent  over-night  to  apprise  the 
ass,  Katherinchen,  and  the  groom  of  her  bedchamber,  Luy,  that 
I  should  require  the  one  to  carry,  the  other  to  follow  me  to  that 
place.  Accordingly,  when  seven  o'clock,  the  hour  of  my  depart- 
ure, arrived,  on  descending  the  staircase  of  the  great  Bad-Haus, 
I  found  Luy  in  light  marching  order,  leaning  against  one  of  the 
plane  trees  in  the  shrubbery,  but  no  quadruped  !  In  the  man's 
dejected  countenance  it  was  at  once  legible  that  his  Katherinchen 
neither  was  nor  would  be  forthcoming  ;  and  he  had  begun  to 
ejaculate  a  very  long-winded  lamentation,  in  which  I  heard 
various  times  repeated  something  about  sacks  of  flour  and  Langen- 
Schwalbach  :  however,  Luy's  sighs  smelt  so  strongly  of  rum, 
that  not  feeling  as  sentimental  on  the  subject  as  himself,  I  at  once 
prevailed  upon  him  to  hire  for  me  from  a  peasant  a  little  long- 
tailed  pony,  which  he  accordingly  very  soon  brought  to  the  door. 
The  wretched  creature  (which  for  many  years  had  evidently  been 
the  property  of  a  poor  man)  had  been  employed  for  several  months 
in  the  driest  of  all  worldly  occupations,  namely,  in  carrying  hard 
stone  bottles  to  the  great  brunnen  of  Nieder-Selters,  and  had  only 
the  evening  before  returned  from  that  uninteresting  job.  It  was 
evident  she  had  had  allotted  to  her  much  more  work  than  food, 
and  as  she  stood  before  me  with  a  drooping  head,  she  shut  her 
eyes  as  if  she  were  going  to  sleep.  I  at  first  determined  on  send- 
ing the  poor  animal  back,  but  being  assured  by  Luy  that,  in  that 
case,  she  would  have  much  harder  work  to  perform,  I  reluctantly 
mounted  her,  and  at  a  little  jog-trot,  which  seemed  to  be  her  best 
— her  worst — in  fact,  her  only  pace,  we  both,  in  very  humble 
spirits,  placidly  proc-cede-d  towards  Mainz. 


JOURNEY  TO  MAINZ.  179 

Luy,  who,  besides  what  he  had  swallowed,  had  naturally  a 
great  deal  of  spirit  of  his  own,  by  no  means,  however,  liked  being 
left  behind  ;  and  though  I  had  formally  bidden  him  adieu,  and 
was  greatly  rejoiced  that  I  had  done  so,  yet,  while  I  was  ascend- 
ing the  mountain,  happening  to  look  bejiind  me,  I  saw  the  fellow 
following  me  at  a  distance  like  a  wolf.  I,  therefore,  immediately 
pulled  up  my  rein,  a  hint  which  the  pony  most  readily  understood, 
and  as  Luy  came  up,  I  told  him  very  positively  he  must  return. 
Seeing  that  he  was  detected,  he  at  once  gave  up  the  point ;  yet  the 
faithful  vassal,  still  having  a  hankering  to  perform  for  me  some  little 
parting  service,  humbly  craved  permission  to  see  if  the  pony's 
shoes  were,  to  use  the  English  expression,  "  all  right."  The  two 
fore  ones  were  declared  by  him  (with  a  hiccup)  to  be  exactly  as 
they  should  be  ;  but  no  sooner  did  he  proceed  to  make  his  tipsy 
reflections  on  the  hind  ones,  than  in  one  second  the  pony  seemed 
by  magic  converted  into  a  mad  creature !  Luy  fell,  as  if  struck 
by  lightning,  to  the  ground,  while  the  tiny  thing,  with  its  head 
between  its  legs  (for  the  rein  had  been  lying  loose  on  its  neck), 
commenced  a  series  of  most  violent  kicks,  which  I  seriously 
thought  vrould  never  come  to  an  end. 

As  good  luck  would  have  it,  I  happened,  during  the  operation, 
to  cleave  pretty  closely  to  my  saddle,  but  what  thunder-clap  had 
so  suddenly  soured  the  mild  disposition  of  my  palfrey,  I  was  to- 
tally unable  to  conceive  !  It  turned  out,  however,  that  the  poor 
thing's  paroxysm  had  been  caused  by  an  unholy  alliance  that  had 
taken  place  between  the  root  of  her  tail  and  the  bowl  of  Luy's 
pipe,  which,  on  his  reeling  against  her,  had  become  firmly  en- 
tangled in  the  hair,  and  it  was  because  it  remained  there  for  about 
half  a  minute,  burning  her  very  violently,  that  she  had  kicked,  or, 
as  a  lawyer  would  term  it,  had  protested  in  the  violent  manner 
and  form  I  have  described. 

After  I  had  left  Luy,  it  took  some  time  before  the  poor  fright- 
ened creature  could  forget  the  strange  mysterious  sensation  she 
had  experienced ;  however,  her  mind,  like  her  tail,  gradually  be- 
comin"-  easy,  her  head  drooped,  the  rein  again  hung  on  her  neck, 
and  in  a  mile  or  two  we  continued  to  jog  on  together  in  as  good 
and  sober  fellowship  as  if  no  such  eccentric  calamity  had  befallen 
us. 


ISO  BUBBLES. 


As  we  were  thus  ascending  the  mountain  by  a  narrow  path,  we 
came  suddenly  to  a  tree  laden  with  most  beautiful  black  cherries, 
evidently  dead  ripe.  The  poor  idiot  of  Schlangenbad  had  escaped 
from  the  hovel  in  which  he  had  passed  so  many  years  of  his  va- 
cant existence,  and  t  here  found  him  literally  gorging  himself  with 
the  fruit.  For  a  moment  he  stopped  short  in  his  meal,  wildly  rolling 
his  eyes,  and  looking  at  me,  as  if  his  treacherous,  faithless  brain 
could  not  clearly  tell  him  whether  I  was  a  friend  or  an  enemy  ; 
however,  his  craving  stomach  being  much  more  violent  than  any 
reflections  the  poor  creature  had  power  to  entertain,  he  suddenly 
seemed  to  abandon  all  thought,  and  again  greedily  returned  to 
his  work.  He  was  a  man  of  about  thirty/,  with  features,  sepa- 
rately taken,  remarkably  handsome ;  he  had  fine  hazel  eyes,  an 
aquiline  nose,  and  a  good  mouth  ;  yet  there  was  a  horrid  twist  in 
the  arrangement  in  v/hich  not  only  his  features  but  his  whole 
frame  was  put  together,  which,  at  a  single  glance,  pointed  him  out 
to  me  as  one  of  those  poor  beings  who,  here  and  there,  are  mys- 
teriously sent  to  make  their  appearance  on  this  earth,  as  if  prac- 
tically to  explain  to  mankind,  and  negatively  to  prove  to  them, 
the  inestimable  blessing  of  reason,  which  is  but  too  often  thank- 
lessly enjoyed. 

The  cherries,  which  were  hanging  in  immense  clusters  around 
us,  were  plucked  five  or  six  at  a  time  by  the  poor  lame  creature 
before  me  ;  but  his  thumb  and  two  fore-fingers  being  apparently 
paralyzed,  he  was  obliged  to  grasp  the  fruit  with  his  two  smallest, 
and  thus,  by  a  very  awkward  turn  of  his  elbow,  he  seemed  ap- 
parently to  be  eating  the  cherries  out  of  the  palm  of  his  hand, 
which  was  raised  completely  above  his  head. 

Not  a  cherry  did  he  bite,  but  with  canine  voracity,  he  continued 
to  swallow  them,  stones  and  all ;  however,  there  was  evidently 
a  sharp  angle  or  tender  corner  in  his  throat,  for  I  particularly 
remarked,  that  whenever  the  round  fruit  passed  a  certain  point, 
it  caused  the  idiot's  eyes  to  roll,  and  a  slight  convulsion  in  his 
frame  continued  until  the  cherry  had  reached  the  place  of  its 
destination. 

The  enormous  quantity  of  ripe  fruit  which  I  saw  this  poor  crea- 
ture swallow  in  the  way  I  have  described  quite  astonished  me ; 
however,  it  was  useless  to  attempt  to  offer  him  advice,  so  instead 


JOURNEY  TO  MAINZ.  181 


I  gave  him  what  all  people  like  so  much  better — a  little  money — 
partly  to  enable  him  to  buy  himself  richer  fooil,  and  partly  be- 
cause I  wished  to  see  whether  he  had  sense  enougii  to  attach  any 
value  to  it. 

The  silver  was  no  sooner  in  his  hand  than,  putting  it  most  ra- 
tionally into  the  loose  pocket  of  his  ragged,  coarse  cloth  trowsers, 
he  instantly  returned  to  his  work  with  as  much  avidity  as  ever. 
Seeing  that  there  was  to  be  no  end  to  his  meal,  I  left  him  hard  at 
it,  and  continued  to  ascend  the  hill,  until  the  path,  suddenly  turn- 
ing to  the  right,  took  me  by  a  level  track  into  the  great  forest. 

The  sun  had  hitherto  been  very  unpleasantly  hot,  but  I  v>-as 
now  sheltered  from  its  rays,  while  the  pure  mountain  air  gave  to 
the  foliage  a  brightness  which,  in  the  Schlangenbad  woods,  I  have 
so  often  stopped  to  admire.  Although  it  was  midsummer,  the  old 
brown  beech  leaves  of  the  last  year  still  covered  the  surface  of 
the  ground ;  yet  they  were  so  perfectly  dry,  that  far  from  there 
being  anything  unhealthy  or  gloomy  in  their  appearance,  they 
formed  a  very  beautiful  contrast  with  the  bright,  clean,  polished 
leaves,  as  well  as  with  the  white,  shining  bark  of  the  beech  trees 
out  of  which  they  had  only  a  year  ago  sprung  into  existence. 
This  russet  covering  of  the  ground  was,  generally  speaking,  in 
shade,  but  every  here  and  there  were  bright  sparkling  patches  of 
sunshine,  which,  having  penetrated  the  foliage,  shone  like  gaudy 
patterns  in  a  dark  carpet. 

As  the  breeze  gently  stole  among  the  trees,  their  branches  in 
silence  bowing  as  it  passed  them,  these  brown  leaves,  being  crisp 
and  dry?  occasionally  moved  ; — occasionally  they  were  more  vio- 
lently turned  over  by  small  fallow^  deer,  which  sometimes  darted 
suddenly  across  my  path,  their  skin  clean  as  the  foliage  on  which 
they  slept — their  eye  darker  than  the  night,  yet  brighter  tlian  the 
pure  stream  from  which  they  drank. 

Enjoying  t'le  variety  of  this  placid  scene,  I  took  every  opportu- 
nity, in  search  of  novelty,  to  change  my  track  ;  still  from  tlie  po- 
sition of  the  sun,  always  knowing  whereabouts  I  was,  I  contrived 
ultimately  to  proceed  in  the  direction  1  desired,  and  after  having 
been  for  a  considerable  time  completely  enveloped  in  the  forest,  I 
suddenly  burst  into  hot  sunshine  close  to  Georgenborn,  a  little 
village,  hanging  most  romantically  on  the  mountain's  side. 


182  BUBBLES. 


The  Rhine,  and  the  immense  country  beyond  it,  now  flashed 
upon  my  view,  and  as  I  trotted  along  the  unassuming  street,  it 
was  impossible  to  help  admiring  the  magnificent  prospect  which 
these  humble  villagers  constantly  enjoyed ;  however,  the  mind, 
like  the  eye,  soon  becomes  careless  of  the  beauties  of  creation, 
and  as  my  pony  jogged  onwards  in  his  course,  I  found  thai  the 
cottagers  looked  upon  us  both  with  much  greater  interest  than 
upon  that  everlasting  traveller  the  Rhine.  Every  woman  we 
met,  with  great  civility  grunted  '•'  Guten  Morgen  !"  as  we  passed 
her,  while  each  mountain  peasant  seen  standing  at  a  door,  or  even 
at  a  window,  made  obeisance  to  us  as  we  crossed  his  meridian,  all 
people's  eyes  following  us  as  far  as  they  could  reach. 

From  Georgenborn,  descending  a  little,  v.e  crossed  a  piece  of 
table  or  level  land,  on  which  there  stood  a  rock  of  a  very  striking 
appearance.  Where  it  had  come  from.  Heaven  (from  whence 
apparently  it  had  fallen)  probably  only  knows.  As  if  from  the 
force  with  which  it  had  been  dropped  upon  its  site,  it  had  split 
into  two  pieces,  separated  by  a  yawning  crevice,  yet  small  trees 
or  bushes  had  grown  upon  each  summit,  while  the  same  beech  foli- 
age appeared  in  the  forest  which  surrounded  them. 

Passing  close  beneath  this  rock,  I  continued  trotting  towards  the 
east  for  about  a  league,  when,  gradually  descending  into  a  milder 
climate,  I  was  hailed  by  the  vineyards  Vvhich  luxuriously  sur- 
rounded the  sequestered  little  village  of  Frauenstein. 

Upon  a  rock  overhanging  the  hamlet,  there  stood  solemnly  be- 
fore me  the  remains  of  the  old  castle  of  Frauenstein,  or  Franken- 
stein, supposed  to  have  been  built  in  the  thirteenth  century.  In 
the  year  1300  it  was  sold  to  the  Archbishop  Gerhardt,  of  Mainz, 
but  soon  afterwards,  being  ruined  by  the  Emperor  Albrecht  I.  in 
a  tithe  war  which  he  waged  against  the  prelate,  it  was  restored  to 
its  original  possessors. 

But  what  more  than  its  castle  attracted  my  attention  in  the 
village  of  Frauenstein,  was  an  immense  plane  tree,  the  limbs  of 
which  had  originally  been  trained  almost  horizontally,  until, 
unable  to  support  their  own  weight,  they  v/ere  now  maintained  by 
a  scaffolding  of  stout  props.  Under  the  parental  shadow  of  this 
venerable  tree,  the  children  of  the  village  were  sitting  in  every 
sort  of  .^roup  and  attitude  ;  one  or  two  of  their  mothers,  in  loose, 


JOURNEY  TO  MAINZ.  1S3 

easy  dishabille,  were  spinning,  many  people  were  leaning  against 
the  upright  scalFolding,  and  a  couple  of  asses  were  enjoying  the 
cool  shade  of  the  beautiful  foliage,  while  their  drivers  were  getting 
hot  and  tipsy  in  a  wine-shop,  the  usual  sign  of  which  is  in  Ger- 
many the  branch  of  a  tree  fixed  to  the  door-post. 

As  I  had  often  heard  of  the  celebrated  tree  of  Frauenstein,  be- 
fore which  I  now  stood,  I  resolved  not  to  quit  it  until  I  had  inform- 
ed myself  of  its  history,  for  which  I  well  knew  I  had  only  to 
apply  to  the  proper  authorities  ;  for  in  Germany,  in  every  little 
village,  there  exists  a  huge  volume  either  deposited  in  the  church, 
or  in  charge  of  an  officer  called  the  Schuldheisz,  in  which  the 
history  of  every  castle,  town,  or  object  of  importance  is  carefully 
preserved.  The  young  peasant  reads  it  with  enthusiastic  delight, 
the  old  man  reflects  upon  it  with  silent  pride,  and  to  any  travel- 
ler searching  for  antiquarian  lore,  its  venerable  pages  are  most 
liberally  opened,  and  the  simple  information  they  contain  gene- 
rously and  gratuitously  bestowed. 

On  inquiring  for  the  history  of  this  beautiful  tree,  I  was  intro- 
duced to  a  sort  of  doomsday-book  about  as  large  as  a  church 
Bible ;  and  when  I  compared  this  volume  with  a  little  secluded 
spot  so  totally  unknown  to  the  world  as  the  valley  or  glen  of 
Frauenstein,  I  was  surprised  to  find  that  the  auto-biography  of  the 
latter  could  be  so  bulky, — in  short,  that  it  had  so  much  to  say  of 
itself.  But  it  is  the  common  weakness  of  man,  and  particularly, 
I  acknowledged,  of  an  old  man,  to  fancy  that  all  his  thoughts,  as 
well  as  actions,  are  of  vast  importance  to  the  world  ;  why,  there- 
fore, should  not  the  humble  Frauenstein  be  pardoned  for  an 
offence  which  we  are  all  in  the  habit  of  committing  ? 

In  this  ancient  volume,  the  rigmarole  history  of  the  tree  was 
told  with  so  much  eccentric  German  genius,  it  displayed  such  a 
graphic  description  of  highborn  sentiments  and  homely  life,  and 
altogether  it  formed  so  curious  a  specimen  of  the  contents  of  these 
strange  sentimental  village  histories,  that  I  procured  the  following 
literal  translation,  in  which  the  German  idiom  is  faithfully  pre- 
served at  the  expense  of  our  English  phraseology. 


1S4  BUBBLES. 


LEGEND  OF  THE  GREAT  PLANE  TREE  OF  FRAUENSTEIN. 

The  old  Count  Kuno  seized  with  a  trembling  hand  the  pilgrim's 
staff — he  wished  to  seek  peace  for  his  soul,  for  long  repentance 
consumed  his  life.  Years  ago  he  had  banished  from  his  presence 
his  blooming  son,  because  he  loved  a  maiden  of  ignoble  race. 
The  son,  marrying  her,  secretly  withdrew.  For  some  time  the 
Count  remained  in  his  castle  in  good  spirits — looked  cheerfully 
down  the  valley — heard  the  stream  rush  under  his  windows — 
thought  little  of  perishable  life.  His  tender  wife  watched  over 
him,  and  her  lovely  daughter  renovated  his  sinking  life ;  but  he 
who  lives  in  too  great  security  is  marked  in  the  end  by  the  hand 
of  God,  and  while  it  takes  from  him  what  is  most  beloved,  it  warns 
him  that  here  is  not  our  place  of  abode. 

The  '•'  Haus-frau"'  (wife)  died,  and  the  Count  buried  the  com- 
panion of  his  days ;  his  daughter  was  solicited  by  the  most  noble 
of  the  land,  and  because  he  wished  to  ingraft  this  last  shoot  on  a 
noble  stem,  he  allowed  her  to  depart,  and  then  solitary  and  alone 
he  remained  in  his  fortress.  So  stands  deserted  upon  the  summit 
of  the  mountain,  witli  withered  top,  an  oak  ! — moss  is  its  last 
ornament — the  storm  sports  with  its  last  few  dry  leaves. 

A  gay  circle  no  longer  fills  the  vaulted  cham.bers  of  the  cas- 
tle— no  longer  through  them  docs  the  cheerful  goblet's  "  clang" 
resound.  The  Count's  nightly  footsteps  echo  back  to  him,  and 
by  the  glimmer  of  the  chandeliers  the  accoutred  images  of  his 
ancestors  appear  to  writhe  and  move  on  the  wall  as  if  they  wished 
to  speak  to  him.  His  armor,  sullied  by  the  web  of  the  vigilant 
spider,  he  could  not  look  at  without  sorrowful  emotion.  Its  gentle 
creaking  against  the  wall  made  him  shudder. 

"  Where  art  thou,"  he  mournfully  exclaimed,  "  thou  who  art 
banished  ?  oh  my  son,  wilt  thou  think  of  thy  father,  as  he  of  thee 
thinks — or  ....  art  thou  dead  ?  and  is  that  thy  flitting  spirit 
which  rustles  in  my  armor,  and  so  feebly  moves  it  ?  Did  I  but 
know  where  to  find  thee,  willingly  to  the  world's  end  would  I  in 
repentant  wandering  journey — so  heavily  it  oppresses  me  what  I 
liave  done  to  thee  ! — I  can  no  longer  remain — forth  will  I  go  to 
the  God  of  Mercy,  in  order,  before  the  image  of  Christ  in  the 
Garden  of  Olives,  to  expiate  my  sins  !" 


JOURNEY  TO  xMAINZ.  1S5 


So  spoke  the  aged  man — enveloped  his  trembling  limbs  in  the 
garb  of  repentance — took  the  cockle-hat — and  seized  with  the 
right  hand  (that  formerly  was  accustomed  to  the  heavy  war- 
sword)  the  light  long  pilgrim's  staff.  Quietly  he  stole  out  of  the 
castle,  the  steep  path  descending,  while  the  porter  looked  after 
him  astounded,  without  demanding  "Whither?" 

For  many  days  the  old  man's  feet  bore  him  wide  away ;  at  last 
he  reached  a  small  village,  in  the  middle  of  which,  opposite  to  a 
ruined  castle,  there  stands  a  very  ancient  plane  tree.  Five  arms, 
each  resembling  a  stem,  bent  towards  the  earth,  and  almost  touched 
it.  The  old  men  of  former  times  were  sitting  underneath  it,  in 
the  still  evening,  just  as  the  Count  went  by  ;  he  was  greeted  by 
them,  and  invited  to  repose.  As  he  seated  himself  by  their  side, 
"  You  have  a  beautiful  plane  tree,  neighbors,"  he  said. 

"Yes,"  replied  the  oldest  of  the  men,  pleased  with  the  praise 
bestow'ed   by  the    pilgrim   on   the   tree ;    "  it   was   nevertheless 

PLANTED  IN  BLOOD  !" 

"  How  is  that  ?"  said  the  Count. 

"  That  will  I  also  relate,"  said  the  old  man.  "  Many  years 
ago  there  came  a  young  man  here,  in  knightly  garb,  who  had  a 
young  woman  with  him,  beautiful  and  delicate,  but,  apparently 
from  their  long  journey,  worn  out.  Pale  w^ere  her  cheeks,  and 
her  head,  covered  with  beautiful  golden  locks,  hung  upon  hor 
conductor's  shoulder.  Timidly  he  looked  round — for,  from  some 
reason,  he  appeared  to  fear  all  men ;  yet,  in  compassion  for  his 
feeble  companion,  he  wished  to  conduct  her  to  some  secure  hut, 
where  her  tender  feet  might  repose.  There,  under  that  ivy- 
grown  tower,  stands  a  lonely  house  belonging  to  the  old  lord  of 
the  castle  ;  thither  staggered  the  unhappy  man  with  his  dear 
burden,  but  scarcely  had  he  entered  the  dwelling,  than  he  was 
seized  by  the  Prince,  with  ^\hose  niece  he  was  clandestinely 
eloping.  Then  was  the  noble  youth  brought  bound,  and  whert- 
this  plane  tree  now  spreads  its  roots  flowed  his  young  blood  ! 
The  maiden  went  into  a  convent ;  but  before  she  disappeared,  she 
had  this  plane  tree  planted  on  the  spot  where  the  blood  of  her 
lover  flowed  :  since  then  it  is  as  if  a  spirit  life  were  in  the  tree 
that  cannot  die,  and  no  one  likes  a  little  twig  to  cut  off',  or  pluck 
a  cluster  of  blossoms,  because  he  fears  it  would  bleed." 


186  BUBBLES. 


"  God's  will  be  done !"  exclaimed  suddenly  the  old  Count,  and 
departed. 

"  That  is  an  odd  man,"  said  the  most  venerable  of  the  peasants, 
eyeing  the  stranger  who  was  hastening  away  ;  "  he  must  have 
something  that  heavily  oppresses  his  soul,  for  he  speaks  not,  and 
hastens  away ;  but,  neighbors,  the  evening  draws  on  apace,  and 
the  evenings  in  spring  are  not  warm ;  I  think  in  the  white  clouds 
yonder,  towards  the  Rhine,  are  still  concealed  some  snow-storms — 
let  us  come  to  the  warm  hearth." 

The  neighbors  went  their  way,  while  the  aged  Count,  in  deep 
thought,  passed  up  through  the  village,  at  the  end  of  which  he 
found  himself  before  the  churchyard.  Terrific  black  crosses 
looked  upon  the  traveller — the  graves  were  netted  over  with 
brambles  and  wild  roses — no  foot  tore  asunder  the  entwinement. 
On  the  right  hand  of  the  road  there  stands  a  crucifix,  hewn  with 
rude  art.  From  a  recess  in  its  pedestal  a  flame  rises  towards  the 
bloody  feet  of  the  image,  from  a  lamp  nourished  by  the  hand  of 
devotion. 

"  Man  of  sorrow,"  thus  ascended  the  prayer  of  the  traveller, 
*'  give  me  my  son  again — by  thy  wounds  and  sufferings,  give  me 
peace — peace !" 

He  spoke,  and  turning  round  towards  the  mountain,  he  followed 
a  narrow  path,  which  conducted  him  to  a  brook,  close  under  the 
flinty,  pebbly  grape  hill.  The  soft  murmurs  of  its  waves  rippling 
here  and  there  over  clear,  bright  stones,  harmonized  with  his  deep 
devotion.  Here  the  Count  found  a  boy  and  a  girl,  who,  having 
picked  flowers,  were  watching  them  carried  away  as  they  threw 
them  into  the  current. 

When  these  children  saw  the  pilgrim's  reverend  attire,  they 
arose — looked  up — seized  the  old  man's  hand,  and  kissed  it. 
"  God  bless  thee,  children  !"  said  the  pilgrim,  whom  the  touch  of 
their  little  hands  pleased.  Seating  himself  on  the  ground,  he 
said,  "  Children,  give  me  to  drink  out  of  your  pitcher." 

"You  will  find  it  taste  good  out  of  it,  stranger-man,"  said  the 
little  girl;  "it  is  our  father's  pitcher  in  which  we  carry  him  to 
drink  upon  the  vine-hill.  Look,  yonder,  he  works  upon  the 
burning  rocks — alas  !  ever  since  the  break  of  day ;  our  mother 
often  takes  out  food  to  him." 


JOURNEY  TO  MAINZ.  IS7 

"  Is  that  your  father,"  said  the  Count,  "  who  with  the  heavy 
pickaxe  is  tearing  up  the  ground  so  manfully,  as  if  he  would 
crush  the  rocks  beneath  ?" 

"Yes,"  said  the  boy,  "our  father  must  sweat  a  good  deal  be- 
fore the  mountain  will  bring  forth  grapes  ;  but  when  the  vintage 
comes,  then  how  gay  is  the  scene  ?" 

"  Where  does  thy  father  dwell,  boy  ?" 

"'  There  in  the  valley  beneath,  where  the  white  gable  end 
peeps  between  the  trees :  come  with  us,  stranger-man,  our  mother 
will  most  gladly  receive  you,  for  it  is  her  greatest  joy  when  a 
tired  wanderer  calls  in  upon  us." 

"Yes,"  said  the  little  girl,  "then  we  always  have  the  best 
dishes;  therefore  do  come — I  will  conduct  thee." 

So  saying,  the  little  girl  seized  the  old  Count's  hand,  and  drew 
him  forth — the  boy,  on  the  other  side,  keeping  up  with  them, 
sprang  backwards  and  forwards,  continually  looking  kindly  at 
the  stranger,  and  thus,  slowly  advancing,  they  arrived  at  the  hut. 

The  Haus-frau  (wife)  was  occupied  in  blowing  the  light  ashes 
to  aNvaken  a  slumbering  spark,  as  the  pilgrim  entered  :  at  the 
voices  of  iier  children  she  looked  up,  saw  the  stranger,  and  raised 
herself  immediately  ;  advancing  towards  him  with  a  cheerful 
countenance,  he  said — 

"  Welcome,  reverend  pilgrim,  in  this  poor  hut — if  you  stand 
in  need  of  refreshment  after  your  toilsome  pilgrimage,  seek  it 
from  us ;  do  not  carry  the  blessing  which  you  bring  with  you 
farther." 

Having  thus  spoken,  she  conducted  the  old  man  into  the  small 
but  clean  room.     When  he  had  sat  down,  he  said — 

"  Woman !  thou  hast  pretty  and  animated  children  ;  I  wish  \ 
had  such  a  boy  as  that !" 

"  Yes  !"  said  the  Haus-frau,  "  he  resembles  his  father — free 
and  courageously  he  often  o;oes  alone  upon  the  mountain,  and 
speaks  of  castles  he  will  build  there.  Ah  !  sir,  if  you  knew  how 
heavy  that  weighs  upon  my  heart !" — (the  woman  concealed  a 
tear.) 

"  Counsel  may  here  be  had,"  said  the  Count ;  "  I  have  no  son, 
and  vv'ill  of  yours,  if  you  give  him  me,  make  a  knight — my  castle 
will  some  of  these  days  be  empty — no  i'obust  son  bears  my  arms." 


ISS  BUBBLES. 


"  Dear  mother  !'•'  said  the  boy,  "  if  the  castle  of  the  aged  man 
is  empty,  I  can  surely,  when  I  am  big,  go  thither  ?" 

"  And  leave  me  here  alone  ?"  said  the  mother. 

"  No,  you  will  also  go  !"  said  the  boy  warmly  ;  "  how  beauti- 
ful it  is  to  look  from  the  height  of  a  castle  into  the  valley  beneath  !" 

"  He  has  a  true  knightly  mind,"  said  the  Count ;  '•  is  he  born 
here  in  the  valley  V 

"  Prayer  and  labor,"  said  the  mother,  '•  is  God's  command,  and 
they  are  better  than  all  the  knightly  honors  that  you  can  promise 
the  boy — he  vvill,  like  his  father,  cultivate  the  vine,  and  trust  to 
the  blessing  of  God,  who  rain  and  sunshine  gives  :  knights  sit  in 
their  castles  and  know  not  how  much  labor,  yet  how  much 
blessing  and  peace  can  dwell  in  a  poor  man's  hut !  My  husband 
was  oppressed  with  heavy  sorrow ;  alas  !  on  my  account  was  his 
heartfelt  grief;  but  since  he  found  this  hut,  and  works  here,  he 
is  much  more  cheerful  than  formerly  :  from  the  tempest  of  life 
he  has  entered  the  harbor  of  peace — patiently  he  bears  the  heat 
of  the  day,  and  when  I  pity  him,  he  says,  '  Wife,  I  am  indeed 
now  happy;'  yet  frequently  a  troubled  thought  appears  to  pierce 
his  soul — I  watch  liim  narrowly — a  tear  then  steals  down  his 
brown  cheeks.  Ah  !  surely  he  thinks  of  the  place  of  his  birth — 
of  a  now  very  aged  grey  fi.ther — and  while  I  see  you,  a  tear  also 
comes  to  me — so  is  perhaps  now — " 

At  this  minute  the  little  girl  interrupted  her,  pulled  her  gently 
by  the  gown,  and  spoke — 

'■  Mother  !  come  into  the  kitchen ;  our  father  Mill  soon  be 
home." 

"You  are  right,"  said  the  mother,  leaving  the  room;  "in  con- 
versation I  forget  myself" 

In  deep  meditation  the  aged  Count  sat  and  thought,  "  Where 
may,  then,  this  night  my  son  sleep  ....?" 

Suddenly  he  was  roused  from  his  deep  melancholy  by  the 
lively  boy,  who  had  taken  an  old  hunting-spear  from  the  corner  of 
the  room,  and  placing  himself  before  the  Count  he  said — 

"  See  !  thug  my  father  kills  the  wild  boar  on  the  mountains — 
there  runs  one  along  !  my  father  cries  '  Huy  !'  and  immediately 
the  wild  boar  throws  himself  upon  the  hunter's  spear  ;  the  spear 


JOURNEY  TO  MAINZ.  189 

sticks  deep  into  the  brain  !  it  is  hard  enough  to  draw  it  out !" 
The  boy  made  actions  as  if  the  boar  was  there. 

"  Right  so,  my  boy  !"  said  the  aged  man  ;  "  but  does  thy  father, 
then,  often  hunt  upon  these  mountains?'' 

"  Yes  !  that  ho  does,  and  the  neighbors  praise  him  highly,  and 
call  him  the  valiant  extirpator,  because  he  kills  the  boars  which 
destroy  the  corn !" 

In  the  midst  of  this  conversation  the  father  entered  ;  his  wife 
ran  towards  him.  pressed  his  sinewy  hand,  and  spoke — 

"  You  have  had  again  a  hot  laboring  day  !' 

'•  Yes,"  said  the  man,  "  but  I  find  the  heavy  pickaxe  light  in 
hand  v»hen  I  think  of  you.  God  is  gracious  to  the  industrious  and 
honest  laborer,  and  that  he  feels  truly  when  he  has  sweated 
through  a  long  day.'' 

"  Our  father  is  without !"  cried  suddenly  the  boy,  threw  the 
hunter's  spear  into  the  middle  of  the  room,  and  ran  forwards. 
The  little  girl  was  already  hanging  at  his  knees. 

"  Good  evening,  father,"  cried  the  boy ;  "  come  quick  into  the 
room, — there  sits  a  stranger-man — a  pilgrim  whom  I  have  brought 
to  you !" 

"  Ah  !  there  you  have  done  well,"  said  the  father  ;  "  one  must 
not  allow  one  tired  to  pass  one's  gate  without  inviting  him  in. 
Dear  wife,"  continued  he,  "  does  not  labor  well  reward  itself, 
when  one  can  receive  and  refresh  a  wanderer  ?  Bring  us  a  glass 
of  our  best  home-grown  wine — T  do  not  know  why  I  am  so  gay 
to-dav,  and  why  I  do  not  experience  the  slightest  fatigue." 

Thus  spoke  the  husband — went  into  the  room — pressed  the 
hand  of  the  stranger,  and  spoke — 

"  Welcome,  pious  pilgrim  !  your  object  is  so  praiseworthy  ;  a 
draught  taken  with  so  brave  a  man  must  taste  doubly  good  !" 

They  sat  down  opposite  to  each  otlier  in  a  room  half-dark — the 
children  sat  upon  their  father's  knees. 

"  Relate  to  us  something,  father,  as  usual !"  said  the  boy. 

"  That  won't  do  to-day,"  replied  the  father ;  "  for  we  have  a 
(Tuest  here — but  what  docs  my  hunter's  spear  do  there  ?  have 
vou  been  again  playing  with  it  ?  carry  it  away  into  the  corner." 

"You  have  there,"  said  the  pilgrim,  "a  young  knight  who 
knows  already  how  to  kill  boars — also  you  are,  I  hear,  a  renowned 


190  BUBBLES. 


huntsman  in  this  valley  ;  therefore  you  have  something  of  the 
spirit  of  a  knight  in  you." 

"  Yes  !"  said  the  vine-laborer,  "  old  love  rusts  not,  neither 
does  the  love  of  arms ;  so  often  as  I  look  upon  that  spear,  I  wish  it 
were  there  for  some  use.... formerly.... but,  aged  sir,  we  will  not 
think  of  the  past  !     Wife  !  bring  to  the  revered  — " 

At  this  moment  the  Haus-frau  entered,  placed  a  jug  and  goblets 
on  the  table,  and  said — 

"  May  it  refresh  and  do  thee  good  !" 

"  That  it  does  already,"  said  the  pilgrim,  "  presented  by  so  fair 
a  hand,  and  with  such  a  friendly  countenance  !" 

The  Haus-frau  poured  out,  and  the  men  drank,  striking  their 
glasses  with  a  good  clank  ;  the  little  girl  slipped  down  from  her 
father's  knee,  and  ran  with  the  mother  into  the  kitchen  ;  the  boy 
looked  wistfully  into  his  father's  eyes  smilingly,  and  then  towards 
the  pitcher — the  father  understood  him,  and  gave  him  some  wine  ; 
he  became  more  and  more  lively,  and  again  smiled  at  the  pitcher. 

"  This  boy  will  never  be  a  peaceful  vine-laborer  as  I  am,"  said 
the  father ;  "  he  has  something  of  the  nature  of  his  grandfather 
in  him  ;  hot  and  hasty,  but  in  other  respects  a  good-hearted  boy 
— brave  and  honorable....  Alas  !  the  remembrance  of  what  is  pain- 
ful is  most  apt  to  assail  one  by  a  cheerful  glass If  he  did  but 

see  thee. ...thee. ...child  of  the  best  and  most  affectionate  mother — 
on  thy  account  he  would  not  any  longer  be  offended  with  thy 
father  and  mother  :  thy  innocent  gambols  would  rejoice  his  old 
age — in  thee  would  he  see  the  fire  of  his  youth  revived  again — 
but...." 

"■  What  dost  thou  say  there  ?"  said  the  pilgrim,  stopping  him 
abruptly  ;   "  explain  that  more  fully  to  me  !" 

"  Perhaps  I  have  already  said  too  much,  reverend  father,  but 
ascribe  it  to  the  wine  which  makes  one  talkative  ;  I  will  no  more 
afflict  thee  with  my  unfortunate  history  !" 

"  Speak  !"  said  the  pilgrim,  vehemently  and  beseechingly ; 
"  Speak  !  who  art  thou  ?" 

"  What  connexion  hast  thou  with  the  world,  pious  pilgrim,  that 
you  can  still  trouble  yourself  about  one  who  has  suffered  much, 
and  who  has  now  arrived  at  the  port  of  peace  ?" 

"  Speak!"  said  the  pilgrim;  <'  I  must  know  thy  history." 


JOURNEY  TO  MAINZ.  191 

"  Well  !"  replied  he,  "  let  it  be  ! — I  was  not  born  a  vine- 
laborer — a  noble  stem  has  engendered  nie — but  love  for  a  maiden 
drove  me  from  my  home." 

"  Love  ?"  cried  the  pilgrim,  moved. 

"  Yes  !  I  loved  a  maiden,  quite  a  child  of  nature,  not  of  great- 
ness— my  father  was  displeased — in  a  sudden  burst  of  passion  he 
drove  me  from  him — wicked  relations,  who,  he  being  childless, 
would  inherit,  inflamed  his  wrath  against  me,  and  he,  whom  I  yet 
honor,  and  who  also  surely  still  cherishes  me  in  his  heart — he...."' 

The  pilgrim  suddenly  rose,  and  went  to  the  door. 

"  What  is  the  matter  with  thee  V'  said  the  astonished  vine- 
laborer ;   '•  has  this  affected  thee  too  much  ?" 

The  boy  sprang  after  the  aged  man,  and  held  him  by  the  hand. 
"  Thou  wilt  not  depart,  pilgrim  ?"  said  he. 

At  this  minute  the  Haus-frau  entered  with  a  light.  At  one 
glance  into  the  countenance  of  the  vine-laborer,  the  aged  Count 
exclaimed,  '•  My  Son  !"  and  fell  motionless  into  his  arms.  As 
his  senses  returned,  the  father  and  son  recognized  each  other. 
Adelaide,  the  noble,  faithful  v/ife,  weeping,  held  the  hands  of  the 
aged  man,  while  the  children  knelt  before  him. 

"  Pardon,  father  !"  said  the  son. 

"  Grant  it  to  me  !'"  replied  the  pilgrim,  '•  and  grant  to  your 
father  a  spot  in  your  quiet  harbor  of  peace,  where  he  may  end 
his  days.  Son  !  thou  art  of  a  noble  nature,  and  thy  lovely  wife 
is  worthy  of  thee — thy  children  will  resemble  thee — no  ignoble 
blood  runs  in  their  veins.  Henceforth  bear  my  arms  ;  but  as  an 
honorable  remembrance  for  posterity,  add  to  them  a  pilgrim  and 
the  pickaxe,  that  henceforth  no  man  of  high  birth  may  conceive 
that  labor  degrades  man — or  despise  the  peasant  who  in  fact 
nourishes  and  protects  the  nobleman." 


On  leaving  Frauenstein,  which  lies  low  in  the  range  of  the 
Taunus  hill,  I  found  that  every  trot  my  pony  took  introduced  me 
to  a  more  genial  climate  and  to  more  luxuriant  crops.  But  vege- 
tation did  not  seem  alone  to  rejoice  in  the  change.  The  human 
face  became  softer  aiid  softer  as   I  proceeded,  and  the  stringy, 


192 


BUBBLES. 


weather-beaten  features  of  the  mountain  peasant  were  changed 
for  countenances  pulpy,  fleshy,  and  evidently  better  fed.  As  I 
continued  to  descend,  the  cows  became  larger  and  fatter,  the 
horses  higher  as  well  as  stouter,  and  a  few  pigs  I  met  had  more 
lard  in  their  composition  than  could  have  been  extracted  from  the 
whole  Langen-Schwalbach  drove,  with  their  old  driver,  the 
Schwein-General,  to  boot.  Jogging  onwards,  I  began  at  last  to 
fancy  that  my  very  own  mind  was  becoming  enervated ;  for 
several  times,  after  passing  well-dressed  people,  did  I  catch  my- 
self smoothing  with  my  long  staff  the  rough  shaggy  mane  of  my 
pony,  or  else  brushing  from  my  sleeve  some  rusty  hairs,  which  a 
short  half-hour  ago  I  should  have  felt  were  just  as  well  sticking 
upon  my  coat  as  on  his. 

[nstead  of  keen,  light  mountain  air,  I  now  felt  myself  over- 
powered by  a  burning  sun  ;  but  in  compensation,  Nature  displayed 
crops  which  were  very  luxuriant  of  their  sorts.  The  following  is 
a  list  of  those  I  passed,  in  merely  riding  from  Frauenstein  to 
Mainz  ;  it  will  give  some  idea  of  the  produce  of  that  highly. 
favored  belt,  or  district,  of  Nassau  (known  by  the  name  of  the 
Rhein-gau)  which  lies  between  the  bottom  of  the  Taunus  hills 
and  the  Rhine  : — 


Vineyards, 

Hop-gardens, 

Fields  of  Kidney-beans, 

Tobacco, 

Hemp, 

Flax, 

Buck  Wheat, 

Kohl-Rabi, 

Mangel- Wurzel, 

Fields  of  Beans  and  Peas, 

Indian  Corn, 

Wheat  of  various  sorts, 

Barley, 

Oats, 

Rye, 

Rape, 

Potatoes, 

Carrots, 

Turnips, 

Clover  of  various  sorts, 

Grp.ss, 

Lucerne, 

Tares. 


Plum  Trees  of  several  sorts, 

Standard  Apricots, 

Peaches, 

Nectarines, 

Walnuts, 

Pears,      >    ^       . 
.      1        >  ot  various  sorts, 
Apples,  )  ' 

Spanish  Chestnuts, 

Horse  Chestnuts, 

Almonds, 

Quinces, 

Medlars, 

Fiffs, 

Vv^ild  Raspberries, 

Wild  Gooseberries, 

Wild  Strawberries, 

Currants, 

Gooseberries, 

Whortleberries, 

Rhubarb, 

Cabbages  of  all  sorts, 

Garlick, 

Tomatos. 


JOURNEY  TO  MAINZ.  193 

To  any  one  who  has  been  living  in  secluded  retirement,  even 
for  a  short  time,  a  visit  to  a  populous  city  is  a  dram,  causing  an 
excitement  of  the  mind,  too  often  mistaken  for  its  refreshment. 
Accordingly,  on  my  arrival  at  Mainz,  I  must  own,  for  a  few 
minutes,  1  was  gratitied  with  every  human  being  or  animal  that 
1  met — at  all  the  articles  displayed  in  the  shops — and  for  some 
time,  in  mental  delirium,  I  revelled  in  the  bustling  scene  before 
me.  However,  having  business  of  some  little  importance  to 
transact,  I  had  occasion,  more  than  once,  to  walk  from  one  part 
of  the  town  to  another,  until  getting  leg-weary,  I  began  to  feel  that 
[  was  not  suited  to  the  scene  before  me  ;  in  short,  that  the  crutches 
made  by  Nature  for  declining  life  are  quietness  and  retirement ; 
I,  therefore,  longed  to  leave  the  sunshiny  scene  before  me,  and  to 
ascend  once  again  to  the  clouds  of  Schlangenbad,  from  which  I 
had  so  lately  fallen. 

AVith  this  object  I  had  mounted  my  pony,  who,  much  less  sen- 
timental  than  myself,  v/ould  probably  most  willingly  have 
expended  the  remainder  of  his  existence  in  a  city  which,  in  less 
than  three  hours,  had  miraculously  poured  into  his  manger  three 
feeds  of  heavy  oats  ;  and  I  was  actually  on  the  bridge  of  boats 
which  crosses  the  Rhine,  when,  finding  that  the  saddle  was  press- 
ing upon  his  withers,  I  inquired  where  I  could  purchase  any  sort 
of  substance  to  place  between  them,  and  being  directed  to  a  tailor 
celebrated  for  supplying  all  the  government  postilions  wiih  leather 
breeches,  I  soon  succeeded  in  reaching  a  door  which  corresponded 
with  the  street  and  number  that  had  been  given  to  me  ;  however, 
on  entering,  I  found  nothing  but  a  well-staircase,  pitch  dark,  with 
a  rope  instead  of  a  hand-rail. 

At  every  landing-place,  inquiring  for  the  artist  I  was  seeking, 
I  was  always  told  to  go  up  higher ;  at  last,  when  I  reached  the 
uppermost  stratum  of  the  building,  I  entered  a  room  which  seemed 
to  be  made  of  yellow  leather,  for  on  two  sides  buckskins  were 
piled  up  to  the  ceiling ;  leather  breeches,  trowsers,  drawers, 
gloves,  &c.,  were  hanging  on  the  other  walls,  while  the  great 
table  in  the  middle  of  the  room  was  covered  with  skinny  fragments 
of  all  shapes  and  sizes.  In  this  new  world  which  I  had  dis- 
covered, the  only  inhabitants  consisted  of  a  master  and  his  son. 
The  former  was  a  mild  tall  man  of  about  fifty,  but  a  human 
14 


194  BUBBLES. 


being  so  very  thin,  I  think,  I  never  before  beheld  !  He  v/ore 
neither  coat,  waistcoat,  neckcloth,  nor  shirt,  but  merely  an  elastic 
worsted  dress  (in  fact,  a  Guernsey  frock),  wliich  fitted  him  like 
his  skin,  the  rest  of  his  lean  figure  being  concealed  by  a  large, 
loose,  coarse  linen  apron.  The  son,  who  was  about  twenty-two, 
was  net  bad-looking,  but  "  talis  pater,  talis  Jilius,''  he  was  just  as 
thin  as  his  father,  and  really,  tiiough  I  was  anxious  hastily  to 
explain  what  I  wanted,  yet  my  eyes  could  not  help  wandering 
from  father  to  son,  and  from  son  to  father,  perfectly  unable  to 
determine  which  was  the  thinnest,  for  though  one  does  not  expect 
to  find  very  much  power  of  body  or  mind  among  tailors  of  any* 
country  (nor  indeed  do  they  require  it),  yet  really  this  pair  of 
them  seemed  as  if  they  had  not  strength  enough  united  to  make 
a  pair  of  knee-breeches  for  a  skeleton. 

Having  gravely  explained  the  simple  object  of  my  visit,  I 
managed  to  grope  my  way  down  and  round,  and  round  and  down 
the  well-staircase,  stopping  only  occasionally  to  feel  my  way,  and 
to  reflect  with  several  degrees  of  pity  on  the  poor  thin  beings  I 
had  left  above  me ;  and  even  when  1  got  down  to  my  pony  (lie 
had  been  waiting  for  me  very  patiently),  I  am  sure  v/e  trotted 
nearly  a  couple  of  hundred  yards  before  I  could  shake  out  of 
my  head  the  wan,  spectre-like  appearance  of  the  old  man,  or  the 
weak,  slight,  hectic-looking  figure  of  the  young  one  ;  and  I  finished 
by  sentimentally  settling  in  my  own  mind  that  the  father  was 
consumptive — that  the  son  was  a  chip  from  the  same  block — and 
that  they  were  both  galloping,  neck  and  neck,  from  their  breeches- 
board  to  their  graves,  as  hard  as  they  could  go. 

These  gloomy  reflections  were  scarcely  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
long,  when  I  discovered  that  I  had  left  my  memorandum-book 
behind  me,  and  so,  instantly  returning,  I  groped  my  way  to  the 
top  of  the  identical  staircase  I  had  so  lately  descended.  I  was 
there  told  that  the  old  gentleman  and  his  son  were  at  dinner,  but, 
determining  not  to  lose  my  notes,  in  I  went — and  I  cannot  de- 
scribe one-hundredth  part  of  the  feelings  which  came  over  me, 
when  I  saw  the  two  creatures  upon  whom  I  had  wasted  so  much 
pity  and  fine  sentiment,  for  there  they  sat  before  me  on  their 
shop-board,  with  an  immense  wash-hand  basin,  that  had  been  full 
of  common  blue  Orleans  plums,  which  they  were  still  munching 


JOURNEY  TO  MAINZ.  195 


with  extraordinary  avidity.  A  very  small  piece  of  bread  was  in 
each  of  their  left  hands,  but  the  immense  number  of  plum-stones 
on  both  side^  of  them  betrayed  the  voracity  with  which  they  had 
been  proceeding  with  their  meal. 

*•  Thin  ! — no  wonder  you  are  thin!"'  I  muttered  to  myself; 
"  no  wonder  that  your  chests  and  your  back-bones  seem  to  touch 
each  other!" 

Never  before  had  I,  among  rational  beings,  witnessed  such  a 
repast,  and  it  really  seemed  as  if  nothing  could  interrupt  it,  for 
all  the  time  I  was  asking  for  what  I  v»-anted,  both  father  and  son 
were  silently  devouring  these  infernal  plums ;  however,  after  re- 
mounting my  pony,  I  could  not  help  admitting  that  the  picture 
was  not  without  its  tiny  moral.  Two  German  tailors  had  been 
cheerfully  eating  a  vegetable  dinner — so  does  the  Italian  who 
lives  on  macaroni  ; — so  does  the  Irish  laborer  who  lives  on  pota- 
toes ; — so  do  the  French  peasants  who  eat  little  but  bread  ;  so  do 
the  millions  who  subsist  in  India  on  rice — in  Africa  on  dates — in 
the  South-Sea  Islands  and  West  Indies  on  the  bread-tree  and  on 
yams  ;  in  fact,  only  a  very  small  proportion  of  the  inhabitants  of 
this  globe  are  carnivorous  :  yet,  in  England,  we  are  so  accus- 
tomed to  the  gouty  luxury  of  meat,  that  it  is  now  almost  looked 
upon  as  a  necessary  ;  and  though  our  poor,  we  must  all  confess, 
generally  speaking,  are  religiously  patient,  yet  so  soon  as  the 
middle  classes  are  driven  from  aninml  to  vegetable  diet,  they  car- 
nivorously  both  believe  and  argue  that  they  are  in  the  world  re- 
markable objects  of  distress — that  their  country  is  in  distress — 
that  "  things  cannot  last ;"  in  short,  pointing  to  an  artificial  scale 
of  luxury,  which  they  themselves  have  hung  up  in  their  own 
minds,  or  rather  in  their  stomachs,  they  persist  that  vegetable 
diet  is  low  diet — that  being  without  roast  beef  is  living  below 
zero,  and  that  molares,  or  teeth  for  grinding  the  roots  and  fruits 
of  the  earth,  must  have  been  given  to  mankind  in  general,  and  to 
the  English  nation  in  particular — by  mistake. 

After  re-crossing  the  Rhine  by  the  bridge  of  boats,  the  sun  be- 
ing oppressively  hot,  I  joyfully  bade  adieu  to  the  sultry  dry  city 
and  garrison  of  Mainz. 

As  I  gradually  ascended  towards  my  home,  I  found  the  air 
becoming  cooler  and  fresher,  the  herbage  greener  and  greener, 


196  BUBBLES. 


the  foliage  of  the  beech-trees  brighter  and  cleaner ;  everything  in 
the  valley  seemed  in  peaceful  silence  to  be  welcoming  my  return  ; 
and  when  I  came  actually  in  sight  of  the  hermitage  of  Schlan- 
genbad,  I  could  not  help  muttering  in  triumph  to  myself,  '•'  Hard 
features — hard  life — lean  pigs,  and  lovely  nature,  for  ever!" 


i 


EXCURSION  TO  THE  NIEDERWALD.  197 


EXCURSION   TO  THE   NIEDERWALD 


Wishing  to  see  Rudesheim  and  its  neighborhood,  I  one  morning 
left  Schlangenbad  very  early,  in  a  hired  open  carriage,  drawn  by 
a  pair  of  small,  punchy  horses. 

We  were  to  get  first  to  the  Rhine  at  the  village  of  Ellfeld,  and 
we  accordingly  proceeded  about  a  league  on  the  great  macadam- 
ized road  towards  Mainz,  when,  turning  to  the  right,  we  passed 
under  the  celebrated  hill  of  Rauenthal,  and  then  very  shortly 
came  in  sight  of  the  retired  peaceful  little  village  of  Neudorf. 
The  simple  outline  of  this  remote  hamlet,  as  well  as  the  costume 
and  attitudes  of  a  row  of  peasants,  who,  seated  on  a  grassy  bank 
at  the  road-side,  were  resting  from  their  labor,  formed  the  subject 
of  an  interesting  sketch  which  the  Paneidolon  presented  to  me  in 
a  very  few  minutes. 

This  exceedingly  clever,  newly-invented  instrument,  the  most 
silent — the  most  faithful — and  one  of  the  most  entertaining  com- 
pagnons  de  voyage  which  any  traveller  can  desire,  consists  of  a 
small  box,  in  which  can  be  packed  anything  it  is  capable  of  hold- 
ing. On  being  emptied  for  use,  all  that  is  necessary  is  to  put 
one's  head  into  one  side,  and  then  trace  with  a  pencil  the  objects 
which  are  instantly  seen  most  beautifully  delineated  at  tbe  other. 

Whether  the  perspective  be  complicated  or  simple — whether 
the  figures  be  human  or  inhuman,  it  is  all  the  same,  for  they  are 
traced  with  equal  facility,  rain  not  even  retarding  the  operation. 
The  Paneidolon  also  possesses  an  advantage  which  all  very 
modest  people  will,  I  think,  appreciate  ;  for  the  operator's  face 
being  (like  Jack's)  "  in  a  box,"  no  person  can  stare  at  it  or  the 
drawing ;  whereas,  while  sketching  with  the  camera  lucida, 
everybody  must  have  observed  that  the  village  peasants  in  crowds, 
not  only  watch  every  line  of  the  pencil,  but  laugh  outright  at  the 


198  BUBBLES. 


contortion  of  countenance  with  which  the  poor  Syntax  in  search 
of  the  picturesque,  having  one  optic  closedj  squints  with  the  other 
through  a  hole  scarcely  bigger  than  the  head  of  a  pin,  standing 
all  the  time  in  the  inquisitive  attitude  of  a  young  magpie  looking 
into  a  marrow-bone. 

On  leaving  Neudorf,  getting  into  a  cross  country  road  or 
chemin  de  terre,  we  began,  with  the  carriage- wheel  dragged,  an 
uninterrupted  descent,  which  was  to  lead  us  to  the  banks  of  the 
Rhine.  The  horses  (which  had  no  blinkers)  having  neither  to 
pull  nor  to  hold  back,  were  trotting  merrily  along,  occasionally 
looking  at  me — occasionally  biting  at  each  other  :  everything  was 
delightful,  save  and  except  a  whiff  of  tobacco,  which,  about  six 
times  a  minute,  like  a  sort  of  pulsation,  proved  that  my  torpid 
driver  was  not  really,  as  he  appeared  to  be — a  corpse  ;  when,  all 
of  a  sudden,  as  we  were  jolting  down  a  narrow  ravine,  sur- 
mounted by  vineyards,  I  saw,  about  a  hundred  yards  before  us, 
a  cart  heavily  laden,  drawn  by  two  little  cows.  There  happened 
at  the  moment  to  be  a  small  road  at  right  angles  on  our  left,  into 
which  we  ought  to  have  turned  to  let  our  opponent  pass ;  but 
either  the  driver  did  not  see,  or  would  not  see,  the  humble  vehicle, 
and  so  onwards  he  recklessly  drove,  until  our  horses'  heads  and 
the  cows'  horns  being  nearly  close  together,  the  dull,  heavy  lord 
of  the  creation  pulled  at  his  reins  and  stopped. 

The  road  was  so  narrow,  and  the  banks  of  the  ravine  so  pre- 
cipitous, that  there  was  scarcely  room  on  either  side  of  the  ve- 
hicle for  a  human  being  to  pass  ;  and  tlie  cows  and  horses  being 
vis-a-vis,  or  "  at  issue,"  the  legal  question  now  arose,  which  of 
the  two  carriages  was  to  retrograde. 

As,  without  metaphor,  I  sat  on  my  woolsack,  or  cushion  stufted 
with  wool,  my  first  judgment  was,  that  the  odds  were  not  in  favor 
of  the  defendant,  the  poor  old  woman, — for  she  had  not  only  to 
contend  with  the  plaintiff  (my  stupid  driver),  his  yellow  carriage, 
and  two  bay  horses,  but  the  hill  itself  was  sadly  against  her  ;  her 
opponent  loudly  exclaiming  that  she  and  her  cows  could  retire 
easier  than  he  could.  The  toothless  old  woman  did  not  attempt 
to  plead  for  herself;  but  what  was  infinitely  better,  having  first 
proved,  by  pushing  at  her  cows'  heads  with  all  her  force,  that 
they  actually  did  not  know  how  to  back,  she  leant  against  the 


I 


EXCURSION  TO  THE  NIEDERWALD.  199 

bank,  showing  us  a  face  which  had  every  appearance  of  going 
to  sleep.  Seeing  affairs  in  this  state,  I  got  out  of  the  carriage, 
and  quietly  walked  on  :  however,  I  afterwards  learned,  with  great 
pleasure,  that  the  old  woman  gained  her  cause,  and  that  the  squab- 
ble had  ended  by  the  yellow  carriage  retreating  to  the  point  where 
its  stupid,  inanimate  driver  ought  to  have  stopped  it. 

On  arriving  at  the  bottom  of  the  lane,  v/e  reached  that  noble 
road,  running  parallel  with  and  close  to  the  Rhine,  which  was 
brought  into  its  present  excellent  state  in  the  time  of  Napoleon. 
Along  it,  with  considerable  noise,  we  trotted  steadily,  stopping 
only  once  every  half-hour  to  pay  a  few  kreuzers  at  what  was 
called  the  Barriere.  No  barrier,  however,  existed,  there  being 
nothing  to  mark  the  fatal  spot  but  an  inanimate,  party-colored 
post,  exhibiting,  in  stripes  of  blue  and  orange,  the  government 
colors  of  Nassau. 

On  the  horses  stopping,  which  they  seemed  most  loyally  to  do 
of  their  ow^i  accord,  the  person  whose  office  it  was  to  collect  this 
road-money,  or  chausseegelt,  in  process  of  time  appeared  at  a 
window  with  a  heavy  pipe  hanging  in  his  mouth,  and  in  his  hand 
an  immense  long  stick,  to  the  end  of  which  there  was  affixed  a 
small  box  containing  a  ticket,  in  exchange  for  which  I  silently 
dropped  mv  money  into  this  till.  Not  a  word  was  spoken,  but, 
with  the  gravity  of  an  angler,  the  man,  having  drawn  in  his  rod, 
a  whiff  of  tobacco  was  vomited  from  his  mouth,  and  then  the 
window,  like  the  transaction — closed. 

After  proceeding  for  some  hours,  having  passed  through  Erbach 
and  Hattenheim,  we  drove  through  the  village  of  Johannisberg, 
which  lies  crouching  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  so  remarkable  on  the 
Rhine  for  being  crowned  with  the  white,  shining  habitation  of 
Prince  Metternich.  The  celebrated  vineyards  on  this  estate  were 
swarming  with  laborers,  male  and  female,  who  were  seen  busily 
lopping  off  the  exuberant  heads  of  the  vines,  an  operation  which 
with  arms  lifted  above  their  heads,  was  not  inelegantly  performed, 
with  a  common  sickle. 

The  Rhine  had  now  assumed  the  appearance  of  a  lake,  for 
which,  at  this  spot,  it  is  so  remarkable,  and  Rudesheim,  to  which 
I  was  proceeding,  appeared  to  be  situated  at  its  extremity  ;  the 


200  BUBBLES. 


chasm  which  the  river  has  there  burst  for  itself  through  the 
lofty  range  of  the  Taunus  mountains  not  being  perceptible. 

On  arriving  at  Rudesheim,  I  most  joyfully  extricated  myself 
from  the  carriage,  and  instantly  hiring  a  guide  and  a  mule,  I  con- 
tentedly told  the  farmer  to  drive  me  before  him  to  whatever  point 
in  his  neighborhood  was  generally  considered  to  be  the  best  worth 
seeing  ;  and  perfectly  unconscious  where  he  would  propel  me,  tlie 
man  began  to  beat  the  mule — the  mule  began  to  trot  along — and, 
little  black  memorandum-book  in  hand,  I  began  to  make  my  ixoies. 

After  ascending  a  very  narrow  path,  which  passed  through 
vineyards,  the  sun,  as  I  became  exposed  to  it,  feeling  hotter  and 
hotter,  I  entered  a  wild,  low,  stunted  plantation  of  oak  shrubs, 
which  was  soon  exchanged  for  a  noble  wood  of  oak  and  beech 
trees,  between  which  I  had  room  enough  to  ride  in  any  direction. 
The  shade  was  exceedingly  agreeable ;  the  view,  however,  was 
totally  concealed,  until  I  suddenly  came  to  a  projecting  point,  on 
which  there  was  a  small  temple,  commanding  a  most  splendid 
prospect. 

After  resting  here  for  a  few  minutes,  my  mule  and  his  burden 
again  entered  the  forest ;  and,  continuing  to  ascend  to  a  conside- 
rable height,  we  both  at  last  approached  a  large  stone  building 
like  a  barrack,  part  of  which  was  in  ruins ;  and  no  sooner  had 
we  reached  its  southern  extremity,  than  my  guide,  with  a  look  of 
vast  importance,  arrested  the  progress  of  the  beast.  As  I  beheld 
nothing  at  all  worth  the  jolting  I  had  had  in  the  carriage,  I  felt 
most  grievously  disappointed  ;  and  though  I  had  no  one's  bad 
taste  to  accuse  but  my  own,  in  having  committed  myself  to  the 
barbarous  biped  who  stood  before  me,  yet  I  felt,  if  possible,  still 
more  out  of  sorts  at  the  fellow  desiring  me  to  halloo  as  loud  as  I 
could,  he  informing  me,  with  a  look  of  indescribable  self-satisfac- 
tion, that  as  soon  as  I  should  do  so,  an  echo  would  repeat  all  my 
exclamations  three  times  ! !  ! 

The  man  seeing  I  did  not  at  all  enjoy  his  noisy  miracle,  made 
a  sign  to  me  to  follow  him,  and  he  accordingly  led  me  to  what 
appeared  to  my  eyes  to  be  nothing  but  a  large  heap  of  stones  held 
together  by  brambles.  At  one  side,  however,  of  this  confused 
mass,  there  appeared  to  be  a  hole  which  looked  very  much  as  if 
it  had  been  intended  for  an  ice-house  :  however,  on  entering  it,  I 


EXCURSION  TO  THE  NIEDERWALD. 


201 


found  it  to  be  a  long,  dark,  subterranean  passage,  cut  out  of  the 

solid  rock  ;  and  here,  groping  my  way,  I  followed  my  guide,  until, 
coming  to  a  wooden  partition  or  door,  he  opened  it,  when,  to  my 
great  astonishment  and  delight,  I  found  myself  in  an  octagonal 
chamber,  most  deservedly  called  Bezauberte  Hohle — the  enchant- 
ed cave ! 

It  was  a  cavern  or  cavity  in  the  rock,  with  three  fissures  or 
embrasures  radiating  at  a  small  angle ;  yet  each  looking  down 
upon  the  Rhine,  which,  pent  within  its  narrow  rocky  channel, 
was,  at  a  great  depth,  struggling  immediately  beneath  us.  The 
sudden  burst  into  daylight,  and  the  brightness  of  the  gay,  sun- 
shiny scenes  which  through  the  three  rude  windows  had  come  so 
suddenly  to  view  (for  I  really  did  not  know  that  I  was  on  the 
brink  of  the  precipice  of  the  Rhine),  was  exceedingly  enchanting, 
and  I  was  fully  enjoying  it  as  well  as  the  reflection  that  there 
was  no  one  to  interrupt  me,  when  I  suddenly  fancied  that  I  cer- 
tainly heard,  somewhere  or  other  within  the  bowels  of  the  living 
rock  in  which  I  was  embedded,  a  faint  sound  like  the  melody  of 
female  voices,  which,  in  marked  measure,  seemed  to  swell  strong- 
er and  stronger,  until  I  decidedly  and  plainly  heard  them  in  full 
chorus  chanting  the  following  well-known  national  air  of  this 
country  : — 

SCHLANGENBADER     VOLKSLIED. 


{ 


Moderato.  <i 


( 


JVational  Jjir  of  Schlangenbad. 

ft      >» 


Bru  -  der  ich     und    du,  Bru  -  der 

>_^ ^ 


^!?St= 


^Ie^ 


202 


BUBBLES. 


{ 


_$_^_^  _g,  _^__H-^^^_^^_^ 


-3- 


.4 


-*-*. 


ich     und    du,     wir     schlalen     im  -  nier  -  zu. 


zzz=zzzzgzz|=iii|:z:i:z|:^|:jzffqf^ii:± 
^iSz%z«lrzzzz^zzzzIa:zzz::ij:=z=: 


-iilz 


— 1 


-•- 


11 


■#-*ii-; 


.^.-s ..__.. ;izl 

Still     und  still     und     im  -  mer  still      weil  mein  madchen 


~?8z*z3^BZi-|Eizz=^zz-|z3=EdzzEH 

schla-1'en  will,         stil      -      le  !  stil    -    le  ! 

:EfeiESr:9f=555:a55rq55z^:] 

hzzzzz=zzS;zfz:iif:^;f:^;g;^.g:^if3S^zg^f::dJ 
'&'  ~^~  ^~    -w~  -9-  '^'  'W  '^-^-  -&-^~ 


CriL-^- 


i^?^*3^~"~^*^"~ 


-iqzzzzizilzzz: 


:^:-:: 


EXCURSION  TO  THE  NIEDERWALD. 


203 


-fc*: 


iiiziiiiiiiiill 


Kein         geniusch      ge     -     -     macht ! 

|:_:ir:|:p::|::4--izr:1::J::^:-S::=rtt 


izzzjigr 


■»-  -«*-    :S: 


a_g„, ai :{:■ -f— IF 


-^ z1;- ^-i^— "--:t-: 


From  time  to  time  the  earthly  or  unearthly  sounds  died  away, 
— lost  in  the  intricate  turns  of  the  subterraneous  passage ; — ^at 
last,  they  were  heard  as  if  craving  permission  to  enter,  and  my 
guide  running  to  the  wooden  door,  no  sooner  threw  it  wide  open, 
than  the  music  at  once  rushing  in  like  a  flood,  filled  the  vaulted 
chamber  in  which  I  stood,  and  in  a  few  seconds,  to  my  very  great 
surprise,  there  marched  in,  two  by  two,  a  youthful  bridal  party  ! 
the  heads  of  eight  or  ten  young  girls  (following  a  bride  and  a 
bridegroom)  were  ornamented  with  wreaths  of  bright  green  leaves, 
which  formed  a  pleasing  contrast  with  their  brown  hair  of  vari- 
ous  shades,  and  most  particularly  with  the  raven  black  tresses  of 
the  bride,  which  were  plaited  round  her  pleasing,  rnodest-looking 
face  very  gracefully. 

The  whole  party  (the  bridegroom  the  only  representative  of  his 
sex,  of  course  included),  had  left  Mainz  that  morning,  to  spend  a 
happy  day  in  the  magic  cave  ;  and,  certainly,  their  unexpected 
appearance  gave  a  fairy  enchantment  to  the  scene. 

After  continuing  their  patriotic  song  for  some  time,  suddenly 
letting  go  each  other's  hands,  they  flew  to  the  three  fissures  in  the 
rock,  and  I  heard  them,  with  great  emphasis,  point  out  to  each 
other  Bingenloch,  Rheinstein,  and  other  romantic  points  equally 
celebrated  for  their  beauty.  These  youthful  people  then  minutely 
scanned  over  the  interior  of  the  vaulted  grave  in  which  we  v,  ere 
all  so  delightfully  buried  alive;  at  last,  so  like  young  travellers, 
they  all  felt  an  irresistible  desire  to  scrawl  their  names  upon  the 


204  BUBBLES. 


wall ;  and,  seeing  a  weather-beaten  old  man  reclining  in  one  cor- 
ner of  the  chamber,  with  about  an  inch  of  pencil  in  his  lean, 
withered  hand,  the  bride,  bowing  with  pleasing  modesty  and  diffi- 
dence, asked  me  to  lend  it  to  her. 

Her  name,  and  that  of  her  partner,  were  accordingly  inscribed  ; 
and  others  would,  with  equal  bursts  of  joy,  have  been  added  to 
the  list,  but  observing  that  my  poor  pencil,  which  would  still  have 
lived  in  my  service  many  a  year,  and  which,  in  fact,  was  all  I 
had,  was,  from  its  violent  rencontres  with  the  hard,  gritty  wall, 
actually  gasping  for  life  in  the  illiterate  clutches  of  a  great  bony 
bridesmaid,  I  very  civilly  managed,  under  pretence  of  cutting  it, 
to  extract  it  from  her  grasp  ;  and  the  attention  of  the  youthful 
party  flitting  of  its  own  accord  to  some  other  object,  the  stump  of 
my  poor  crayon  was  miraculously  spared  to  continue  its  humble 
notes  of  the  day's  proceedings. 

On  leaving  the  enchanted  cave,  we  ascended  through  a  noble 
oak  wood,  until  reaching  a  most  celebrated  pinnacle  of  the  Taunus 
mountains,  we  arrived  at  the  Rossel,  an  old  ruined  castle,  which, 
standing  on  the  Nicderwald  like  a  weather-beaten  sentinel  at  his 
post,  seemed  to  be  faithfully  guarding  the  entrance  of  that  strange 
mysterious  chasm,  through  which,  at  an  immense  depth  beneath, 
the  river  was  triumphantly  and  majestically  flowing. 

Although  the  view  from  the  ruined  top  of  this  castle  was  very 
extensive  and  magnificent,  yet  the  dark  struggling  river  was  so 
remarkable  an  object,  that  it  at  first  completely  engrossed  my  at- 
tention. While  the  great  mass  of  water  continued  to  flow  on  its 
course,  a  sort  of  civil  war  was  raging  between  various  particles 
of  the  element.  In  some  places  an  eddy  seemed  to  be  rebelliously 
trying  to  stem  the  stream ;  in  others  the  water  was  slowly  revolv- 
ing in  a  circle ; — here  it  was  seen  tumbling  and  breaking  over  a 
sunken  rock — there  as  smooth  as  glass.  In  the  middle  of  these 
fractious  scenes,  there  lay,  as  it  were,  calmly  at  anchor,  two  or 
three  islands,  covered  with  poplars  and  willows,  upon  one  of  which 
stood  the  ruins  of  the  Mdusethiirm,  or  tower  of  that  stingy  bishop 
of  Mainz,  famous,  or  rather  infamous,  in  the  history  of  the  Rhine, 
for  having  been  gnawed  to  death  by  rats.  On  the  opposite  side 
of  the  river  were  to  be  seen  the  Rochus  CapeMe,  a  tower  built  to 
commemorate  the  cessation  of  the  plague,  the  beautiful  castle  of 


EXCURSION  TO  THE  NIEDERWALD.  2)3 

Rheinstein,  the  residence  o^  Prince  Frederick  of  Prussia,  the 
blue-slated  town  of  Bingen,  with  its  bridge  crossing  the  Nahe, 
which,  running  at  right  angles,  here  delivers  up  its  waters  to  the 
Rhine. 

The  difference  in  caste  or  colors  between  the  two  rivers  at  their 
point  of  meeting  is  very  remarkable,  the  Rhine  being  clear  and 
green,  the  Nahe  a  deep  muddy  brown ;  however,  they  no  sooner 
enter  the  chasm  in  the  Taunus  hills  than  the  distinction  is  annihi- 
lated in  the  violent  hubble-bubble  commotions  which  ensue. 

The  view  beyond  these  home  objects  now  attracted  my  attention. 
The  Prussian  hills  opposite  were  richly  clothed  with  wood,  while 
on  their  left  lay  prostrate  the  province  of  Darmstadt,  a  large 
brown  flat  space,  studded,  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  with 
villages,  which,  though  distinctly  remarkable  in  the  foreground, 
were  yet  scarcely  perceptible  in  the  perspective.  Behind  my 
back  was  the  Duchy  of  Nassau,  with  several  old  ruined  castles 
perched  on  the  pinnacles  of  the  wood-covered  hills  of  the  Nie- 
derwald. 

During  the  whole  time  that  I  was  placidly  enjoying  this  beauti- 
ful picture  around  and  beneath  me,  the  bridal  party  o^  young 
people,  equally  happy  in  their  way,  were  singing,  laughing,  or 
waltzing ;  and  their  cheerful  accents,  echoing  from  one  old  ruin 
to  another,  seemed  for  the  moment  to  restore  to  these  deserted 
walls  that  joy  to  which  they  had  so  long  been  a  stranger. 

Having  at  last  mounted  my  mule,  I  attempted  to  bid  my  compa- 
nions farewell  ;  however,  they  insisted  on  accompanying  me  and 
my  guide  through  the  forest,  singing  their  national  airs  in  chorus 
as  they  went.  Their  footsteps  kept  pace  with  their  tunes,  and  as 
they  advanced,  their  young  voices  thrilled  among  the  trees  with 
great  effect :  sometimes  the  wild  melody,  like  a  stop-waltz,  sud- 
denly ceased,  and  they  proceeded  several  paces  in  silence  ;  then, 
again,  it  as  unexpectedly  burst  upon  the  ear, — in  short,  like  the 
children  of  all  German  schools,  they  had  evidently  been  taught 
time  and  the  complete  management  of  their  voices,  a  natural  and 
pleasing  accomplishment,  which  can  scarcely  be  sufficiently 
admired. 

From  these  young  people  themselves  I  did  not  attempt  to  ex- 
tract their  little  history ;  but  I  learnt  from  my  guide  in  a  whisper 


206  BUBBLES. 


(for  which  I  thought  there  was  no  great  occasion),  that  the  young 
couple  who  hand  in  hand  before  me  were  leading  the  procession 
through  the  wood,  were  verlobt  (affianced),  that  is  to  say,  they 
were  under  sentence  eventually  to  be  married. 

This  quiet,  jog-trot,  half-and-half  connubial  arrangement  is  very 
common  indeed  all  over  Germany  ;  and  no  sooner  is  it  settled  and 
approved  of,  than  the  young  people  are  permitted  to  associate  to- 
gether at  almost  all  times,  notwithstanding  it  is  often  decreed  to 
be  prudent  that  many  years  should  elapse  before  their  marriage 
can  possibly  take  place  :  in  short,  they  are  constantly  obliged  to 
wait  until  either  their  income  rises  sufficiently,  or  until  butter, 
me^t  bread,  coffee,  tobacco,  and  candles  sufficiently  fall. 

As  seated  on  my  mule  I  followed  these  steady,  well-behaved, 
and  apparently  well-educated  young  people  through  the  forest, 
listening  to  their  cheerful  choruses,  I  could  not,  during  one  short 
interval  of  silence,  help  reflecting  how  differently  such  unions  are 
managed  in  different  countries  on  the  globe. 

A  quarter  of  a  century  has  nearly  elapsed  since  I  chanced  to 
be  crossing  from  the  island  of  Salamis  to  Athens,  with  a  young 
Athenian  of  rank,  who  was  also,  in  his  way,  "affianced."  We 
spent,  I  remember,  the  night  together  in  an  open  boat,  and  cer- 
tainly never  did  I  before  or  since  witness  the  aching  of  a  lad's 
heart  produce  effects  so  closely  resembling  the  aching  of  his 
stomach.  My  friend  lay  at  the  bottom  of  the  trabacolo  absolutely 
groaning  with  love  ;  his  moans  were  piteous  beyond  description, 
and  nothing  seemed  to  afford  his  affliction  anv  relief  but  the  fol- 
lowing  stanza,  which  over  and  over  again  he  continued  most 
romantically  singing  to  the  moon  : — 

"  Quando  la  notte  viene, 
Non  ho  riposo,  O  Nice, 
Son  misero  e  infelice 
Esser  lontan  da  te  !" 

On  his  arrival  at  Athens  he  earnestly  entreated  me  to  call  for 
him  on  the  object  of  his  affection,  for  he  himself,  by  the  custom 
of  his  country,  was  not  allowed  to  see  her,  precisely  from  the 
very  same  reason  which  permitted  the  young  German  couple  to 


EXCURSION  TO  THE  NIEDERWALD.  207 


stroll  together  through  the  lonely,  lovely  forest  of  the  Niederwald, 
namely — because  they  were  '■'■  verloht.'^ 

Tlio  bridal  party  now  separated  themselves  from  my  guide,  my 
mule,  and  myself;  they,  waving  their  Iiandkerchiefs  to  us,  de- 
scended a  path  on  the  right ;  we  continuing  the  old  track,  which 
led  us  at  last  to  the  village  of  Rudcsheim. 

As  soon  as  the  horses  could  be  put  to  my  carriage,  it  being 
quite  late,  I  set  out  by  moonlight,  to  return.  Vineyards,  orchards, 
and  harvest  were  now  veiled  from  my  view,  but  the  castle  of 
Prince  Metternich — the  solitary  tower  of  Scharfenstein,  and  the 
dark  range  of  the  Taunus  mountains  had  assumed  a  strange,  ob- 
scure, and  supernatural  appearance  magnificently  contrasted  with 
the  long  bright,  serpentine  course  of  the  Rhine,  which,  shining 
from  Bingen  to  Mainz,  glided  joyfully  along,  as  if  it  knew  it  had 
attracted  to  itself  the  light  which  the  landscape  had  lost. 

On  leaving  the  great  chaussee,  which  runs  along  the  banks  of 
the  river,  like  the  towing-path  of  a  canal,  we  ascended  the  cross 
road,  dov.n  which  we  had  trundled  so  merrily  in  the  morning,  and 
without  meeting  cows,  carts,  toothless  old  women,  or  any  other 
obstruction,  I  reached  about  mid-night  the  Bad-Haus  of  Schlan- 
genbad.  On  ascending  the  staircase,  I  found  that  the  two  little 
lamps  in  the  passage  had  expired  ;  hov/ever,  the  key  of  my  apart- 
ments was  in  my  pocket,  the  moon  was  shining  through  the  win- 
dow upon  my  table,  and  so,  before  one  short  hour  had  elapsed, 
Rudesheim — the  niggardly  Bishop  of  Mainz,  with  his  tower  and 
rats — the  bridal  party — the  enchanted  cave — the  lofty  Rossel, 
and  the  magnificent  range  of  the  Niederwald,  were  all  tumbling 
head  over  heels  in  my  mind,  while  I  lay  humbly  and  quietly  be- 
neath them — asleep. 


208  BUBBLES. 


WIESBADEN 


The  day  at  last  arrived  for  my  departure  from  the  green,  happy 
little  valley  of  Schlangenbad.  Whether  or  not  its  viper  baths 
really  possess  the  effect  ascribed  to  them,  of  tranquillizing  the 
nerves,  I  will  not  presume  to  declare ;  but  that  the  loneliness  and 
loveliness  of  the  place  can  fascinate,  as  well  as  tranquillize,  the 
mind,  I  believe  as  firmly,  as  T  know  that  the  Schlangenbad  water 
rubs  from  the  body  the  red  rust  of  Langen-Schwalbach. 

Those  who,  on  the  tiny  surface  of  this  little  world,  please  them- 
selves with  the  playing  what  they  call  "  the  great  game  of  life," 
Avould  of  course  abhor  a  spot  in  which  they  could  neither  be 
envied  nor  admired ;  but  to  any  grovelling. m.inded  person,  who 
thinks  himself  happy  when  he  is  quiet  and  clean,  J  can  recom- 
mend this  humble  valley  as  a  retreat  exquisitely  suited  to  his 
taste. 

After  casting  a  farewell  glance  round  apartments  to  which  I 
felt  myself  most  unaccountably  attached,  descending  the  long  stair- 
case of  the  New  Bad-Haus,  I  walked  across  the  shrubbery  to  my 
carriage,  around  which  had  assembled  a  few  people,  who,  I  was 
very  much  surprised  to  find,  were  witnessing  my  departure  with 
regret ! 

Luy,  who  had  followed  my  (I  mean  Katherinchen's)  footsteps 
so  many  a  weary  hour,  strange  as  it  may  sound  (and  so  contrary 
to  what  the  poor  ass  must  have  felt),  v»-as  evidently  sorry  I  was 
going.  The  old  "  Bad  "'  man's  countenance  looked  as  serious 
and  as  wrinkled  on  the  subject  as  the  throat  of  his  toad — his  wan, 
sallow. faced  Jezebel  of  a  wife  stood  before  the  carriage-steps 
waving  her  lean  hand  in  sorrow  ;  and  the  young  maid  of  the  Bad- 
Haus  who  had  made  my  bed,  merely  because  I  had  troubled  her 
to  do  so  for  a  longer  period  than  any  other  visitor,  actually  began 


WIESBADEN.  209 


to  shed  some  tears.  The  whole  group  begged  permission  to  kiss 
my  hand,  and  there  was  so  mucli  kind  feeling  evinced,  that  I  felt 
quite  relieved  when  I  found  that  the  postilion  and  his  horses  had 
roughly  spoiled  the  picture  :  in  short,  that  they  were  trotting  and 
trumpeting  me  along  the  broad  macadamized  road  which  leads  to 
Wiesbaden. 

As  I  had  determined  on  visiting  the  Duke  of  Nassau's  hunt- 
ing-seat '•  Die  Platte  "  in  my  way  to  Wiesbaden,  after  proceeding 
about  four  miles,  I  left  the  carriage  in  the  high  road,  and  walking 
through  the  woods  toward  my  object,  1  passed  several  very  large 
plantations  of  fir-trees  which  had  been  sown  so  unusually  thick  that 
they  were  completely  impervious,  even  to  a  wild  boar  ;  for  not 
only  were  the  trees  themselves  merely  a  few  inches  asunder,  but 
their  branches,  which  feathered  to  the  ground,  interlaced  one  with 
another  until  they  formed  altogether  an  impenetrable  jungle. 
Through  this  mass  of  vegetation,  narrow  paths,  about  three  feet 
broad,  were  cut  in  various  directions  to  enable  the  deer  to  traverse 
the  country. 

In  passing  through  the  beech  forest,  I  observed  that  the  roads 
or  cuts  were  often  as  much  as  forty  or  fifty  feet  in  breadth,  and 
every  here  and  there  the  boughs  and  foliage  were  artificially 
entwined  in  a  very  ingenious  manner,  leaving  small  loop-holes 
through  which  the  Duke,  his  visitors,  or  his  huntsmen,  might  shoot 
at  the  game  as  they  wildly  darted  by.  A  single  one  of  these 
verdant  batteries  might  possibly  be  observed  and  avoided  by  the 
cautious,  deep-searching  eye  of  the  deer,  but  they  exist  all  over 
the  woods  in  such  numbers,  that  the  animals,  accustomed  to  them 
from  their  birth,  can  fear  nothing  from  them,  until  the  fatal  moment 
arrives,  when  their  experience,  so  dearly  bought,  arrives  too  late. 

After  advancing  for  about  an  hour  through  these  green  streets, 
I  came  suddenly  upon  the  Duke's  hunting-seat,  the  Platte,  a  plain 
white  stone,  cubic  building,  which,  as  if  disdaining  gardens, 
flower-beds,  or  any  artificial  embellishment,  stands  alone,  on  a 
prominent  edge  of  the  Taunus  hills,  looking  down  upon  Wiesba- 
den, Mainz,  Frankfurt,  and  over  the  immense  flat,  continental- 
looking  country  which  I  have  already  described.  Its  situation  is 
very  striking;  and  though,  of  course,  it  is  dreadfully  exposed  to 
the  winter's  blast,  yet,  as  a  sporting  residence,  during  the  sum- 
15 


210  BUBBLES. 


mer  or  autumn  months,  nothing,  I  think,  can  surpass  the  beauty 
and  unrestrained  magnificence  of  its  view. 

Before  the  entrance  door,  in  attitudes  of  great  freedom,  stand 
two  immense  bronze  statues  of  stags,  most  beautifully  executed^ 
and  on  entering  the  apartments,  which  are  lofty  and  grand,  every 
article  of  furniture,  as  well  as  every  ornament,  is  ingeniously- 
composed  of  pieces,  larger  or  smaller,  of  buck-horn.  -  Immense 
antlers,  one  above  another,  are  ranged  in  the  hall,  as  well  as  on 
the  walls  of  the  great  staircase  ;  and  certainly,  when  a  sportsman 
comes  to  the  Platte  on  a  visit  to  the  Duke  of  Nassau,  everything 
his  eyes  can  rest  on  not  only  reminds  him  of  his  favorite  pursuit, 
but  seems  also  to  promise  him  as  much  of  it  as  the  keenest  hunter 
can  desire  :  in  short,  without  the  slightest  pretension,  the  Platte  is 
nobly  adapted  to  its  purpose,  and  with  great  liberality  it  is  open 
at  almost  all  times  to  the  inspection  of  "  gentlemen  sportsmen  "  and 
travellers  from  all  parts  of  the  globe.  About  twelve  hundred 
feet  beneath  it,  in  a  comparatively  flat  country,  bounded  on  two 
sides  by  the  Rhine  and  the  Main,  lies  Wiesbaden,  the  capital  of 
the  Duchy  of  Nassau,  the  present  seat  of  its  Government,  and  the 
spot  by  far  the  most  numerously  attended  as  a  watering-place. 

Looking  down  upon  it  from  the  Platte,  this  town  or  city  is  appa- 
rently about  three-quarters  of  an  English  mile  square,  one  quar- 
ter of  this  area  being  covered  with  a  rubbishy  old,  the  remainder 
with  a  staring,  formal  new  town,  composed  of  streets  of  white 
stone  houses,  running  at  right  angles  to  each  other.  As  I  first 
approached  it,  it  appeared  to  me  to  be  as  hot,  as  formal,  and  as 
uninteresting  a  place  as  I  ever  beheld  ;  however,  as  soon  as  I 
entered  it,  I  very  soon  found  out  that  its  inhabitants,  and  indeed 
its  visitors,  entertain  a  very  different  opinion  of  the  place,  they 
pronouncing  it  to  be  one  of  the  most  fashionable,  and  consequently 
most  agreeable,  w^atering- places  in  all  Germany. 

In  searching  for  a  lodging,  I  at  once  went  to  most  of  the  prin- 
cipal hotels,  several  of  w^iich  I  found  to  be  grievously  afllicted 
with  smells,  which  (though  I  most  politely  bowed  to  every  person 
I  met  in  the  passage)  it  did  not  at  all  suit  me  to  encounter.  At 
one  place,  as  an  excuse  for  not  taking  the  unsavory  suite  of  apart- 
ments  which  were  oflfered  to  me,  I  ventured  quietly  to  remark, 
that  they  were  very  much  dearer  than  those  I  had  just  left.     The 


WIESBADEN.  211 


master  at  once  admitted  the  fact,  but  craning  himself  up  into  the 
proudest  attitude  his  large  stomach  would  admit  of,  he  observed — 
"  Mais  -  -  -  Monsieur  !  savez-vous  que  vous  aurez  a  Wiesbaden 
■plus  d^ amusement  dans  une  heure,  que  vous  n^auriez  a  Schlangenbad 
dans  un  an?  .  .  .  ." 

In  the  horrid  atmosphere  in  which  I  stood,  I  had  no  inclination 
to  argue  on  happiness  or  any  subject ;  so  hastening  into  the  open 
air,  I  continued  my  search,  until  finding  the  landlord  at  the  Eng- 
lischen  Hof  civil,  obliging,  and  exceedingly  anxious  to  humor  all 
my  old  fashioned  English  whims  and  oddities,  I  accepted  the 
rooms  he  offered  me,  nnd  thus  for  a  few  days  dropped  my  anchor 
in  the  capital  of  the  duchy  of  Nassau. 

About  twelve  thousand  strangers  are  supposed  annually  to  visit 
this  gay  watering-place,  and  consequently,  to  pen  up  all  this 
fashionable  flock  within  the  limits  of  so  small  a  town,  requires  no 
little  ramming,  cramming,  and  good  arrangement.  The  dinner 
hour,  or  time  of  the  tables-d'hdte,  as  at  Langen-Schwalbach, 
Schlangenbad,  and  indeed  all  other  places  in  Germany,  was  one 
o'clock,  and  the  crowds  of  well-dressed  hungry  people  who,  at 
that  hour,  following  their  appetites,  were  in  different  directions 
seen  slowly  but  resolutely  advancing  to  their  food,  was  very  re- 
markable. Voluntarily  enlisting  into  one  of  these  marching  regi- 
ments,  I  allowed  myself  to  be  carried  along  with  it,  I  know  not 
where,  until  I  found  myself,  with  a  very  empty  stomach  and  a 
napkin  on  my  knees,  quietly  seated  at  one  of  three  immense  long 
tables,  in  a  room  with  above  250  people,  all  secretly  as  hungry 
as  myself. 

The  quantity  of  food  and  attention  bestowed  upon  me  for  one 
florin  filled  me  with  astonishment,  "  and  certainly,"  said  I  to  my- 
self,  "  a  man  may  travel  very  far  indeed  before  he  will  find  provi- 
sions and  civility  cheaper  than  in  the  duchy  of  Nassau  !"  The 
meat  alone  which  was  offered  to  me,  if  it  had  been  thrown  at  my 
head  raw,  would  have  been  not  only  a  most  excellent  bargain,  but 
much  more  than  any  one  could  possibly  have  expected  for  the 
money  ;  but  when  it  was  presented  to  me,  cooked  up  with  sauces 
of  various  flavors,  attended  with  omelettes,  fruits,  tarts,  puddings, 
preserves,  fish,  &c.,  &c.,  and  served  with  a  quantity  of  politeness 
and  civility  which  seemed  to  be  infinite,  I  own  I  felt  that  in  the 


212  BUBBLES. 


scene  around  me  there  existed  quite  as  much  refreshment  and  food 
for  the  mind  as  for  the  body. 

It  is  seldom  or  never  that  I  anywhere  pay  the  slightest  attention 
to  dinner  conversation,  the  dishes,  ninety-nine  times  out  of  a  hun- 
dred,  being,  in  my  opinion,  so  very  much  better  ;  however,  much 
against  my  will,  I  overheard  some  people  talking  of  a  duel,  which 
I  will  mention,  hoping  it  may  tend  to  show  by  what  disgusting, 
fiend-like  sentiments  this  practice  can  be  disgraced. 

A  couple  of  Germans,  having  quarrelled  about  some  beautiful 
lady,  met  with  sabres  in  their  hands  to  fight  a  duel.  The  ugly 
one,  who  was  of  course  the  most  violent  of  the  two,  after  many 
attempts  to  deprive  his  hated  adversary  of  life,  at  last  aimed  a 
desperate  blow  at  his  head,  which,  though  it  missed  its  object,  yet 
fell  upon,  and  actually  cut  off,  the  good-looking  man's  nose.  It 
had  scarcely  reached  the  ground,  when  its  owner,  feeling  that  his 
beauty  was  gone,  instantly  threw  away  his  sword,  and  with  both 
arms  extended,  eagerly  bent  forwards  with  the  intention  to  pick 
up  his  own  property  and  replace  it ;  but  the  ugly  German  no 
sooner  observed  the  intention,  than  darting  forwards  with  the  ma- 
lice of  the  Devil  himself,  he  jumped  upon  the  nose,  and  before  its 
master's  face  crushed  it  and  ground  it  to  atoms  ! 

In  strolling  very  slowly  about  the  town,  after  dinner,  the  first 
object  which  aroused  my  curiosity  was  a  steam  I  observed  rising 
through  the  iron  gratings,  which,  at  the  corners  of  the  streets, 
covered  the  main  drains  or  common  sewers  of  the  town.  At  first 
I  thought  it  proceeded  from  washerwomen,  pig-scalders,  or  some 
such  artificial  cause ;  but  I  no  sooner  reached  the  great  Koch- 
brunnen  (boiling  spring),  than  I  learnt  it  was  the  natural  tempe- 
rature of  the  Wiesbaden  waters  that  had  thus  attracted  my 
attention. 

As  I  stood  before  this  immense  cauldron,  with  eyes  staring  at 
the  volume  of  steam  which  was  arising  from  it,  and  with  ears 
listening  to  a  civil  person  who  was  voluntarily  explaining  to  me 
that  there  were  fifteen  other  springs  in  the  town,  their  tempera- 
ture being  at  all  times  of  the  year  about  140®  of  Fahrenheit,  I 
could  not  help  feeling  a  sort  of  unpleasant  sensation,  similar  to 
what  I  had  experienced  on  the  edges  of  Etna  and  Vesuvius ;  in 
short,  I  had  been  so  little  accustomed  to  live  in  a  town  heated  by 


WIESBADEN.  213 


subterranean  fire,  that  it  just  crossed  my  mind,  whether,  in  case 
the  engineer  below,  from  laziness,  should  put  on  too  many  coals 
at  once,  or,  from  carelessness,  should  neglect  to  keep  open  his 
proper  valves,  an  explosion  might  not  take  place,  which  would 
suddenly  send  me,  Koch-brunnen,  Wiesbaden,  and  Co.,  on  a  shoot- 
ing excursion  to  the  Duke's  lofty  hunting-seat,  the  Platte.  The 
ground  in  the  vicinity  of  these  springs  is  so  warm,  that  in  winter 
the  snow  does  not  remain  upon  it ;  and  formerly,  when  these 
waters  used  to  flow  from  the  town  into  a  small  lake,  from  not  freez- 
ing, it  became  in  hard  weather  the  resort  of  birds  of  all  descrip- 
tions :  indeed,  even  now,  they  say  that  that  part  of  the  Rhine  into 
which  the  Wiesbaden  waters  eventually  flow  is  observed  to  be 
remarkably  free  from  ice. 

Wiesbaden,  inhabited  by  people  called  Mattiaci,  was  not  only 
known  to  the  Romans,  but  fortified  by  the  twenty-second  legion, 
who  also  built  baths,  the  remains  of  which  exist  to  the  present 
day.  Even  in  such  remote  ages,  it  was  observed  that  these 
waters  retained  their  heat  longer  than  common  water,  or  sal* 
water,  of  the  same  specific  gravity,  heated  to  the  same  degree : 
indeed,  Pliny  remarked — "  Sunt  et  Mattiaci  in  Germania  fontes 
calida,  quorum  haustus  triduofervet.'^ 

The  town  of  Wiesbaden  is  evidently  one  which  does  not  appre- 
ciate the  luxury  of  "  home,  sweet  home  !"  for  it  is  built,  not  for 
itself,  but  for  strangers ;  and  though  most  people  loudly  admire 
the  size  of  the  buildings,  yet,  to  my  mind,  there  is  something  very 
melancholy  in  seeing  houses  so  much  too  fine  for  the  style  of 
inhabitants  to  whom  they  belong.  A  city  of  lodging-houses,  like 
an  army  of  mercenaries,  may  to  each  individual  be  a  profitable 
speculation  ;  but  no  brilliant  uniform,  or  external  show,  can 
secretly  compensate  for  the  want  of  national  self  pride  which 
glows  in  the  heart  of  a  soldier,  standing  under  his  country's 
colors,  or  in  the  mind  of  a  man  living  consistently  in  his  own 
little  home. 

About  twenty  years  ago,  the  inhabitants  of  Wiesbaden  were 
pent  up  in  narrow,  dirty  streets,  surrounded  by  swampy  ditches 
and  an  old  Roman  wall.  A  complete  new  town  has  since  been 
erected,  and  accommodation  has  thus  been  afforded  for  upwards 


214  BUBBLES. 


of  12,000  strangers,  the  population  of  the  place,  men,  women, 
and  children  included,  scarcely  amounting  to  8000  souls. 

During  the  gay  season,  of  course  all  is  bustle  and  delight ;  but 
I  can  conceive  nothing  less  cheerful  than  such  a  place  must  be- 
come, when  all  its  motley  visitors  having  flown  away,  winter 
begins  to  look  it  in  the  face ;  however,  certainly  the  inhabitants 
of  Wiesbaden  do  not  seem  to  view  the  subject  at  all  in  this  point 
of  view,  for  they  all  talk  with  great  pride  of  their  fine  new  town, 
and  strut  about  their  large  houses  like  children  wearing  men's 
shoes  ten  times  too  big  for  their  feet. 

The  most  striking  object  at  Wiesbaden  is  a  large  square, 
bounded  on  one  side  by  a  handsome  theatre,  on  two  others  by  a 
colonnade  of  shops,  and  on  a  third  by  a  very  handsome  building 
called  the  Cursaal,  an  edifice  430  feet  in  length,  having,  in  front, 
a  portico  supported  by  six  Ionic  columns,  above  which  there  is 
inscribed  in  gold  letters — 

FONTIBUS    MATTIACIS,    MDCCCX. 

On  entering  the  great  door,  I  found  myself  at  once  in  a  saloon, 
or  ball-room,  130  feet  in  length,  60  in  breadth,  and  50  in  height, 
in  which  there  is  a  gallery  supported  by  32  marble  pillars  of  the 
Corinthian  order ;  lustres  are  suspended  from  the  ceiling,  and,  in 
niches  in  the  wall,  there  are  twelve  white  marble  statues,  which 
were  originally  intended  for  Letitia  Bonaparte,  and  which  the 
Wiesbaden  citizens  extol  by  saying  that  they  cost  about  1200/. 

Branching  from  this  great  assembly-room,  there  are  several 
smaller  apartments,  which  in  England  would  be  called  hells,  or 
gambling- rooms. 

The  back  of  the  Cursaal  looks  into  a  sort  of  parade,  upon 
which,  after  dinner,  hundreds  of  visitors  sit  in  groups,  to  drink 
cheap  coffee,  listen  to  a  band  of  most  excellent,  cheap  music,  and 
admire,  instead  of  swans,  an  immense  number  of  snail-gobbling 
ducks  and  ducklings,  which,  swimming  about  a  pond,  shaded  by 
weeping  willows  and  acacias,  come  when  they  are  called,  and, 
duck-like,  of  course  eat  whatever  is  thrown  to  them. 

Beyond  this  pond,  which  is  within  fifty  yards  of  the  Cursaal, 
there  is  a  nice  shrubbery,  particularly  pleasing  to  the  stranger 


WIESBADEN.  215 


from  the  reflection  that,  at  very  great  trouble,  and  at  considerable 
expense,  it  has  been  planted,  furnished  with  benches,  and  taste- 
fully adorned  by  the  inhabitants  of  Wiesbaden,  for  the  gratifica- 
tion of  their  guests.  From  it  a  long  sliady  walk,  running  by  the 
side  of  a  stream  of  water,  extends  for  about  two  miles,  to  the 
ruins  of  the  ancient  castle  of  Sonne^iurg. 

Among  the  buildings  of  Wiesbaden,  the  principal  ones,  after 
the  Cursaal  and  theatre,  are  the  Schlosschen,  containing  a  public 
library  and  museum,  the  hotels  of  the  Four  Seasons,  the  Eagle, 
the  Englischen  Hof,  the  Rose,  and  the  Schutenhof. 

The  churches  are  small,  and  seem  adapted  in  size  to  the  old, 
rather  than  to  the  new  town.  By  far  the  greatest  proportion  of 
the  inhabitants  are  Protestants,  and  their  place  of  worship  is 
scarcely  big  enough  to  hold  them.  At  the  southern  extremity  of 
the  town  there  exists  a  huge  pile  of  rubbish,  with  several  high 
modern  walls  in  ruins. 

It  appears  that  a  few  years  ago,  the  Catholics  at  Wiesbaden 
determined  on  building  a  church,  which  was  to  vie  in  magnifi- 
cence with  the  Cursaal,  and  other  gaudy  specimens  of  the  new 
town. 

Eighty  thousand  florins  were  accordingly  raised  by  subscrip- 
tion,  and  the  huge  edifice  was  actually  finished,  the  priests  were 
shaved,  and  everything  was  ready  for  the  celebration  of  mass, 
when  apropos  to  nothing,  ^'- occidit  una  domus  !^^  down  it  came 
thundering  to  the  ground  ! 

Whether  it  was  blown  up  by  subterranean  heat,  or  burst  by 
the  action  of  frost, — whether  it  was  the  foundation,  or  the  fine 
arched  roof  which  gave  way,  are  points  which  at  Wiesbaden  are 
still  argued  with  acrimony  and  eagerness  ;  and,  to  this  day,  men's 
mouths  are  seen  quite  full  of  jagged  consonants,  as  they  condemn 
or  defend  the  architect  of  the  building — poor  unfortunate  Mr. 
Scrumpf! 

After  having  made  myself  acquainted  with  the  geography  of 
Wiesbaden,  I  arose  one  morning  at  half-past  five  o'clock  to  see 
the  visitors  drinking  the  waters.  The  scene  was  really  an  odd 
one.  The  long  parade,  at  one  extremity  of  which  stood  smoking 
and  fuming  the  great  Koch-brunnen,  was  seen  crowded  with 
respectably-dressed  people,  of  both  sexes,  all   walking  (like  so 


216  BUBBLES. 


many  watchmen,  carrying  lanterns)  with  glasses  in  their  hands, 
filled,  half  filled,  or  quarter  filled  with  the  medicine  v/hich  had 
been  delivered  to  them  from  the  brunnen  so  scalding  hot,  that  they 
dared  not  even  sip  it,  as  they  walked,  until  they  had  carried  it  for 
a  considerable  time. 

It  requires  no  little  dexterity  to  advance  in  this  way,  without 
spilling  one's  medicine,  to  say  nothing  of  scalding  or  slopping  it 
over  one's  fellow-patients.  Every  person's  eye,  therefore,  what- 
ever may  be  the  theme  of  his  conversation,  was  intently  fixed 
upon  his  glass  ;  some  few  carried  the  thing  along  with  elegance, 
but  I  could  not  help  remarking  that  the  greater  proportion  of 
people  walked  with  their  backs  up,  and  were  evidently  very  little 
at  their  ease.  A  band  of  wind-instruments  was  playing,  and  an 
author,  a  native  of  Wiesbaden,  in  describing  this  scene,  has  senti- 
mentally exclaimed — "  TJwiisands  of  glasses  are  drunk  hy  the 
sound  of  music  !^^ 

Four  or  five  young  people,  protected  by  a  railing,  are  employed 
the  whole  morning  in  filling,  as  fast  as  they  can  stoop  down  to  the 
brunnen  to  do  so,  the  quantities  of  glasses,  which,  from  hands  in 
all  directions,  are  extending  towards  them  ;  but  so  excessively 
hot  is  the  cauldron,  that  the  greater  proportion  of  these  glasses 
were,  I  observed,  cracked  by  it,  and  several  I  saw  fall  to  pieces 
when  delivered  to  their  owners.  Not  wishing  to  appear  eccentric, 
which,  in  this  amphibious  picture,  any  one  is  who  walks  about  the 
parade  without  a  glass  of  scalding  hot  water  in  his  hand,  I  pur- 
chased  a  goblet,  and  the  first  dip  it  got  cracked  it  from  top  to 
bottom. 

In  describing  the  taste  of  the  mineral  water  of  Wiesbaden,  were 
I  to  say  that,  while  drinking  it,  one  hears  in  one's  ears  the  cack- 
ling of  hens,  and  that  one  sees  feathers  flying  before  one's  eyes,  I 
should  certainly  grossly  exaggerate  ;  but  when  I  declare  that  it 
exactly  resembles  very  hot  chicken-broth,  I  only  say  what 
Dr.  Granville  said,  and  what  in  fact  everybody  says,  and  must 
say,  respecting  it,  and  certainly  I  do  wonder  why  the  common 
people  should  be  at  the  inconvenience  of  making  bad  soup,  when 
they  can  get  much  better  from  Nature's  great  st-ock-pot — the 
Koch-brunnen  of  Wiesbaden.  At  all  periods  of  the  year,  sum- 
mer or  winter,  the  temperature  of  this  broth  remains  the  same  ; 


WIESBADEN.  217 


and  when  one  reflects  that  it  has  been  bubbling  out  of  the  ground 
and  boiling  over,  in  the  very  same  state,  certainly  from  the  time 
of  the  Romans,  and  probably  from  the  time  of  the  Flood,  it  is  really 
astonishing  to  think  what  a  most  wonderful  apparatus  there  must 
exist  below,  what  an  inexhaustible  stock  of  provisions  to  ensure 
such  an  everlasting  supply  of  broth,  always  formed  of  exactly 
the  same  eight  or  ten  ingredients — always  salted  to  exactly  the 
same  degree,  and  always  served  up  at  exactly  the  same  heat. 

One  would  think  that  some  of  the  particles  in  the  recipe  would 
be  exhausted  ;  in  short,  to  speak  metaphorically,  that  the  chickens 
would  at  last  be  boiled  to  rags,  or  that  the  fire  would  go  out  for 
want  of  coals  ;  but  the  oftener  one  reflects  on  these  sort  of  sub- 
jects,  the  oftener  is  the  old-fashioned  observation  forced  upon  the 
mind,  that  let  a  man  go  where  he  will.  Omnipotence  is  never  from 
his  view. 

As,  leaning  against  one  of  the  columns  of  the  arcade  under 
which  the  band  was  playing,  I  stood  with  my  medicine  in  my 
hand,  gazing  upon  the  strange  groupof  people,  who,  with  extended 
glasses,  were  crowding  and  huddling  round  the  Koch-brunnen, 
each  eagerly  trying  to  catch  the  eye  of  the  young  water-dippers, 
I  could  not  help  feeling,  as  I  had  felt  at  Langen-Schwalbach, 
whether  it  could  be  possible  for  any  prescription  to  be  equally 
beneficial  to  such  differently  made  patients.  To  repeat  all  the 
disorders  which  it  is  said  most  especially  to  cure,  would  be  very 
nearly  to  copy  the  sad  list  of  ailments  to  which  our  creaky  frames 
are  subject.  The  inhabitants  of  Wiesbaden  rant,  the  hotel-keep- 
ers rave,  about  the  virtues  of  this  medicine.  Stories  are  most 
gravely  related  of  people  crawling  to  Wiesbaden  and  running 
home.  In  most  of  the  great  lodging-houses  crutches  are  tri- 
umphantly displayed,  as  having  belonged  to  people  who  left  them 
behind. 

It  is  good,  they  say,  for  the  stomach — good  for  the  skin — good 
for  ladies  of  all  possible  shapes  and  ages — for  all  sorts  and  con- 
ditions of  men.  It  lulls  pain — therefore  it  is  good,  they  say,  for 
people  going  out  of  this  wretched  world,  yet  equally  good  is  it, 
they  declare,  for  those  whose  kind,  fond  parents  earnestly  wish 
them  to  come  in.  For  a  head-ache,  drink,  the  innkeepers  exclaim, 
at  the  Koch-brunnen !     For  gout  in  the  heels,  soak  the  body,  the 


218  BUBBLES. 


doctors  say,  in  the  chicken-broth ! — in  short,  the  valetudinarian, 
reclining  in  his  carriage,  has  scarcely  entered  the  town,  than,  say 
what  he  will  of  himself,  the  inhabitants  will  seem  to  agree  in 
repeating — '■  Bene,  bene  respondere,  dignus  es  entrare  nostra  dodo 
corpore  /" 

However,  there  would  be  no  end  in  stating  what  the  Wiesbaden 
water  is  said  to  be  good  for ;  a  much  simpler  course  is  to  explain, 
that  doctors  do  agree  in  saying  that  it  is  not  good  for  complaints 
where  there  is  any  disposition  to  inflammation  or  regular  fever, 
and  that  it  changes  consumption  into — death. 

By  about  seven  o'clock,  the  vast  concourse  of  people  who  had 
visited  the  Koch-brunnen  had  imbibed  about  as  much  of  the  medi- 
cine as  they  could  hold,  and  accordingly,  like  swallows,  almost 
simultaneously  departing,  the  parade  was  deserted;  the  young 
water-dippers  had  also  retired  to  rest,  and  every  feature  in  the  pic- 
ture vanished,  except  the  smoking,  misty  fumes  of  the  water, 
which  now,  no  longer  in  request,  boiled  and  bubbled  by  itself,  as 
it  flowed  into  the  drains  by  which  it  eventually  reached  the 
Rhine. 

The  first  act  of  the  entertainment  being  thus  over,  in  about  a 
quarter  of  an  hour  the  second  commenced :  in  short,  so  soon  as 
the  visitors,  retiring  to  their  rooms,  could  divest  or  denude  them- 
selves of  their  garments,  1  saw  stalking  down  the  long  passage  of 
my  lodging-house  one  heavy  German  gentleman  after  another, 
whose  skull-cap,  dressing-gown,  and  slippers  plainly  indicated  that 
he  was  proceeding  to  the  bath.  In  a  short  time,  lady  after  lady, 
in  similar  dishabille,  was  seen  following  the  same  course.  Silence, 
gravity,  and  incognito,  were  the  order  of  the  day :  and  though  I 
bowed  as  usual  in  meeting  these  undressed  people,  yet  the  polite 
rule  is,  not,  as  at  other  moments,  to  accompany  the  inclination 
with  a  gentle  smile,  but  to  dilute  it  with  a  look  which  cannot  be 
too  solemn  or  too  sad. 

There  was  something  to  my  mind  so  very  novel  in  bathing  in 
broth,  that  I  resolved  to  try  the  experiment,  particularly  as  it  was 
the  only  means  I  had  of  following  the  crowd.  Accordingly, 
retiring  to  my  room,  in  a  minute  or  two  I  also,  in  my  slippers  and 
black  dressing-gown,  was  to  be  seen,  staff  in  hand,  mournfully 
walking  down  the  long  passage,  as  slowly  and  as  gravely  as  if  I 


WIESBADEN.  219 


had  been  in  such  a  procession  all  my  life.  An  infirm  elderly 
lady  was  just  before  me — some  lighter-sounding  footsteps  were 
behind  me — but  without  raising  our  eyes  from  the  ground,  we  all 
moved  on  just  as  if  we  had  been  corpses  gliding  or  migrating  from 
one  churchyard  to  another. 

After  descending  a  long  well-staircase,  I  came  to  a  door,  which 
I  no  sooner  opened,  than  of  its  own  accord,  it  slammed  after  me 
exactly  as,  five  seconds  before,  it  had  closed  upon  the  old  lady 
who  preceded  me,  and  I  now  found  myself  in  an  immense  build- 
ing, half  filled  with  steam. 

A  narrow  passage  or  aisle  conducted  me  down  the  middle,  on 
each  side  of  me  there  being  a  series  of  doors  opening  into  the 
baths,  which,  to  my  very  great  astonishment,  I  observed,  were  all 
open  at  top,  being  separated  from  each  other  by  merely  a  half-inch 
boarded  partition,  not  seven  feet  high  ! 

Into  several  of  these  cells  there  was  literally  nothing  but  the 
steam  to  prevent  people  in  the  houses  of  the  opposite  side  of  the 
street  from  looking — a  very  tall  man  in  one  bath  could  hardly  help 
peeping  into  the  next,  and  in  the  roof  or  loft  above  the  ceiling,  there 
were  several  loop-holes,  through  which  any  one  might  have  had 
a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  whole  unfledged  scene.  The  arrange- 
ment,  or  rather  want  of  arrangement,  was  altogether  most  astonish- 
ing ;  and  as  I  w^alked  down  the  passage,  my  first  exclamation  to 
myself  was,  "  Well,  thank  Heaven,  this  would  not  do  in  England  !" 
To  this  remark,  the  Germans  would  of  course  say,  that  low,  half- 
inch  scantling  is  quite  sufficient  among  well-bred  people,  whatever 
coarser  protection  might  be  requisite  among  us  rude  English  ; 
but  though  this  argument  may  sound  triumphant,  yet  delicacy  is 
a  subject  which  is  not  fit  for  noisy  discussion.  Like  the  bloom 
on  fruit,  it  does  not  bear  touching  ;  and  if  people  of  their  own 
accord  do  not  feel  that  the  scene  I  have  described  is  indelicate,  it 
is  quite  impossible  to  prove  it  to  them,  and  therefore  "  the  less 
said  is  the  soonest  mended." 

As  I  was  standing  in  the  long  passage,  occupying  myself  with 
the  above  reflections,  a  nice,  healthy  old  woman,  opening  a  door, 
beckoned  to  me  to  advance,  and  accordingly  with  her  I  entered 
the  little  cell.  Seeing  I  was  rather  infirm,  and  a  stranger,  she 
gave  me,  with  two  towels,  a  few  necessary  instructions, — such  as 


220  BUBBLES. 


that  I  was  to  remain  in  the  mixture  about  thirty-five  minutes,  and 
beneath  the  fluid  to  strike  with  my  arms  and  legs  as  strenuously 
as  possible. 

The  door  was  now  closed,  and  my  dressing-gown  being  care- 
fully hung  upon  a  peg  (a  situation  1  much  envied  it),  I  proceeded, 
considerably  against  my  inclination,  to  introduce  myself  to  my 
new  acquaintance,  whose  face,  or  surface,  was  certainly  very 
revolting  ;  for  a  white,  thick,  dirty,  greasy  scum,  exactly  resem- 
bling what  would  be  on  broth,  covered  the  top  of  the  bath.  But 
all  this,  they  say,  is  exactly  as  it  should  be,  and,  indeed,  the 
bathers  at  Wiesbaden  actually  insist  on  its  appearance,  as  it 
proves,  they  argue,  that  the  bath  has  not  been  used  by  any  one 
else.  In  most  places,  in  ordering  a  warm  bath,  it  is  necessary  to 
wait  till  the  water  be  heated,  but  at  Wiesbaden  the  springs  are  so 
exceedingly  hot,  that  the  baths  are  obliged  to  be  filled  over-night, 
in  order  to  be  cool  enough  in  the  morning ;  and  the  dirty  scum  I 
have  mentioned  is  the  required  proof  that  the  water  has,  during 
that  time,  been  undisturbed. 

Resolving  not  to  be  bullied  by  the  ugly  face  of  my  antagonist, 
I  entered  my  bath,  and  in  a  few  seconds  I  lay  horizontally, 
calmly  soaking,  like  my  neighbors.  Generally  speaking  a  dead 
silence  prevailed  ;  occasionally  an  old  man  was  heard  to  cough, — 
sometimes  a  young  woman  was  gently  heard  to  sneeze, — and  two 
or  three  times  there  was  a  sudden  heavy  splash  in  the  cell 
adjoining  mine,  which  proceeded  from  the  leg  of  a  great  awkward 
German  Frau,  kicking,  by  mistake  above,  instead  of  (as  I  was 
vigorously  doing)  beneath  the  fluid.  Every  sigh  that  escaped 
was  heard,  and  whenever  a  patient  extricated  him  or  herself  from 
the  mess,  one  could  hear  puffing  and  rubbing  as  clearly  as  if  one 
had  been  assisting  at  the  operation. 

In  the  same  mournful  succession  in  which  they  had  arrived, 
the  bathers,  in  due  time,  ascended,  one  after  another,  to  their 
rooms,  where  they  were  now  permitted  to  eat — what  they  had 
certainly  well  enough  earned — their  breakfast.  As  soon  as  mine 
was  concluded,  I  voted  it  necessary  to  clean  my  head,  for  from 
certain  white  particles  which  float  throughout  the  bath,  as  thickly 
as,  and  indeed  very  much  resembling,  the  mica  in  granite, 
I  found  that  my  hair  was  in  a  sickly  state,  in  which  I  did  not  feel 


WIESBADEN.  221 


disposed  it  should  remain.  I  ought,  however,  most  explicitly  to 
state,  that  the  operation  I  here  imposed  upon  myself  was  an  act 
of  eccentricity,  forming  no  part-  of  the  regular  system  of  the 
Wiesbaden  bathers — indeed,  I  should  say  that  the  art  of  cleaning 
the  hair  is  not  anywhere  much  encouraged  among  the  Germans, 
who,  perhaps  with  reason,  rather  pride  themselves  in  despising  any 
sort  of  occupation  or  accomplishment  which  can  at  all  be  called — 
superficial. 

Before  I  quit  the  subject  of  bathing,  I  may  as  well  at  once 
observe,  that  one  of  my  principal  reasons  for  selecting  the  apart- 
ments I  occupied  at  the  Englischen  Hof  was,  that  the  window  of 
my  sitting-room  looked  into  the  horse-bath,  which  was  immediately 
beneath  them.  Three  or  four  times  a-day  horses,  lame  or  chest- 
foundered,  were  brought  to  this  spot.  As  the  water  was  hot,  the 
animals,  on  first  being  led  into  it,  seemed  much  frightened, 
splashing,  and  violently  pawing  with  their  fore  feet  as  if  to  cool  it, 
but  becoming  at  last  more  accustomed  to  the  strange  sensation,  they 
very  quickly  seemed  exceedingly  to  enjoy  it.  Their  bodies  being 
entirely  covered,  the  halter  was  then  tied  to  a  post,  and  they 
were  thus  left  to  soak  for  half  or  three-quarters  of  an  hour.  The 
heat  seemed  to  heighten  the  circulation  of  their  blood,  and  nothing 
could  look  more  animated  than  their  heads,  as,  peeping  out  of  the 
hot  fluid,  they  shook  their  dripping  manes  and  snorted  at  every 
carriage,  and  horse,  which  they  heard  passing. 

The  price  paid  for  each  bathing  of  each  horse  is  eighteen 
kreuzers,  and  this  trifling  fact  always  appeared  to  me  to  be  the 
most  satisfactory  proof  I  could  meet  with  of  the  curative  proper- 
ties of  the  Wiesbaden  baths  :  for  though  it  is,  of  course,  the  in- 
terest of  the  inhabitants  to  insist  on  their  efllcacy,  yet  the  poor 
peasant  would  never,  I  think,  continue  for  a  fortnight  to  pay 
sixpence  a-day,  unless  he  knew,  by  experience  of  some  sort  or 
other,  that  his  animal  would  really  derive  benefit. 

One  must  not,  however,  carry  the  moral  too  far,  for  even  if  it 
be  admitted  that  these  baths  cure  horses'  strains  and  other  effects 
of  over-work,  it  does  not  follow  that  they  arc  to  be  equally  bene- 
ficial in  gout,  and  other  human  complaints,  which  we  all  know 
are  the  effects  of  under-work,  or  want  of  exercise. 

For  more  than  half  an  hour  I  had  been  indolently  watching 


222  BUBBLES. 


this  amphibious  scene,  when  the  landlord  entering  my  room  said, 

that  the  Russian  Prince  G n  wished  to  speak  to  me  on  some 

business ;  and  the  information  was  scarcely  communicated,  when 
I  perceived  his  Highness  standing  at  the  threshold  of  my  door. 
With  the  attention  due  to  his  rank,  I  instantly  begged  he  would  do 
me  the  honor  to  walk  in ;  and,  after  we  had  sufficiently  bowed  to 
each  other,  and  I  had  prevailed  upon  my  guest  to  sit  down,  I 
gravely  requested  him,  as  I  stood  before  him,  to  be  so  good  as  to 
state  in  what  way  I  could  have  the  good  fortune  to  render  him 
any  service.  The  Prince  very  briefly  replied,  that  he  had  called 
upon  me,  considering  that  I  was  the  person  in  the  hotel  best 
capable  (he  politely  inclined  his  head)  of  informing  him  by  what 
route  it  would  be  most  advisable  for  him  to  proceed  to  London,  it 
being  his  wish  to  visit  my  country. 

In  order  at  once  to  solve  this  very  simple  problem,  I  silently 
unfolded  and  spread  out  upon  the  table  my  map  of  Europe  ;  and 
each  of  us,  as  we  leant  over  it,  placing  a  fore-finger  on  or  near 
Wiesbaden — (our  eyes  being  fixed  upon  Dover) — we  remained 
in  this  reflecting  attitude  for  some  seconds,  until  the  Prince's 
finger  first  solemnly  began  to  trace  its  route.  In  doing  this  I 
observed  that  his  Highness's  hand  kept  swerving  far  into  the 
Netherlands ;  so,  gently  pulling  it  by  the  thumb  towards  Paris,  I 
used  as  much  force  as  I  thought  decorous,  to  induce  it  to  advance 
in  a  straight  line  ;  however,  finding  my  efforts  ineffectual,  sud- 
denly letting  it  go,  I  ventured,  with  respectful  astonishment,  to 
ask,  "  Why  travel  by  so  uninteresting  a  route  ?" 

The  Prince  at  once  acknowledged  that  the  road  I  had  recom- 
mended would,  by  visiting  Paris,  afford  him  the  greatest  pleasure, 
but  he  frankly  told  me  that  no  Russian,  not  even  a  personage  of 
his  rank,  could  enter  that  capital  without  first  obtaining  a  written 
permission  from  the  Emperor  ! ! ! 

These  words  were  no  sooner  uttered  than  I  felt  my  fluent 
civility  suddenly  begin  to  coagulate  ;  the  attention  I  paid  my 
guest  became  forced  and  unnatural — I  was  no  longer  at  my  ease  ; 
and  though  I  bowed,  strained,  and  endeavored  to  be,  if  possible, 
more  respectful  than  ever,  yet  I  really  could  hardly  prevent  my 
lips  from  muttering  aloud  that  I  had  sooner  die  a  homely  English 
peasant  than  live  to  be  a  Russian  Prince  !     In  short,  his  Highness's 


WIESBADEN.  223 


words  acted  upon  my  mind  like  thunder  upon  beer  ;  and,  more- 
over, I  could  almost  have  sworn  that  I  was  an  old  lean  wolf,  con- 
temptuously observing  a  bald  ring  rubbed  by  the  collar  upon  the 
neck  of  a  sleek,  well-fed  mastiff  dog  :  however,  recovering  my- 
self,  I  managed  to  give  as  much  information  as  it  was  in  my 
humble  power  to  afford,  and  my  noble  guest  then  taking  his 
departure,  I  returned  to  my  open  windov/,  to  give  vent  in  solitude 
(as  I  gazed  on  the  horse-bath)  to  my  own  reflections  upon  the 
subject. 

Although  the  petty  rule  of  my  life  has  been  never  to  trouble 
myself  about  what  the  world  calls  "  politics" — (a  fine  word,  by- 
the-by,  much  easier  expressed  than  understood) — yet,  I  must 
own,  I  am  always  happy  when  I  see  a  nation  enjoying  itself,  and 
melancholy  when  I  observe  any  large  body  of  people  suffering 
pain  or  imprisonment.  But  of  all  sorts  of  imprisonment,  that  of 
the  mind  is,  to  my  taste,  the  most  cruel  ;  and,  therefore,  when  I 
consider  over  what  immense  dominions  the  Emperor  of  Russia 
presides,  and  how  he  governs,  I  cannot  help  sympathizing  most 
sincerely  with  those  innocent  sufferers  who  have  the  misfortune 
to  be  born  his  subjects ;  for  if  a  Russian  Prince  be  not  freely  per- 
mitted  to  go  to  Paris,  in  what  a  melancholy  state  of  slavery  and 
debasement  must  exist  the  minds  of  what  we  call  the  lower 
classes  ? 

As  a  sovereign  remedy  for  this  lamentable  political  disorder, 
many  very  sensible  people  in  England  prescribe,  I  know,  that  we 
ought  to  have  recourse  to  arms.  I  must  confess,  however,  it 
seems  to  me  that  one  of  the  greatest  political  errors  England 
could  commit  would  be  to  declare,  or  to  join  in  declaring  war 
against  Russia ;  in  short,  that  an  appeal  to  brute  force  would,  at 
this  moment,  be  at  once  most  unscientfflcally  to  stop  an  immense 
moral  engine,  which,  if  left  to  its  work,  is  quite  powerful  enough, 
without  bloodshed,  to  gain  for  humanity,  at  no  expense  at  all,  its 
object.  The  individual  who  is,  I  conceive,  to  overthrow  the 
Emperor  of  Russia — who  is  to  direct  his  own  legions  against 
hhr.self — wlio  is  to  do  what  Napoleon  at  the  head  of  his  Great 
Army  failed  to  effect,  is  the  little  child,  who,  lighted  by  the  single 
wick  of  a  small  lamp,  sits  at  this  moment  perched  above  the  '^rcat 
steam-press  of  our  "  Penny  Magazine,"  feeding  it,  from  morning 


224  BUBBLES. 


till  night,  with  blank  paper,  which,  at  almost  every  pulsation  of 
the  engine,  comes  out  stamped  on  both  sides  with  engravings,  and 
with  pages  of  plain,  useful,  harmless  knowledge,  which,  by 
making  the  lower  orders  acquainted  with  foreign  lands,  foreign 
productions — various  states  of  society,  &c.,  tend  practically  to 
inculcate  "  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  and  on  earth  peace — good 
will  towards  men."  It  has  already  been  stated,  that  what  pro- 
ceeds from  this  press  is  now  greedily  devoured  by  the  people  of 
Europe  ;  indeed,  even  at  Berlin,  we  know  it  can  hardly  be 
reprinted  fast  enough. 

This  child,  then, — "this  sweet  little  cherub  that  sits  up  aloft," 
is  the  only  army  that  an  enlightened  country  like  ours  should,  I 
humbly  think,  deign  to  oppose  to  one  who  reigns  in  darkness — 
who  trembles  at  daylight,  and  whose  throne  rests  upon  ignorance 
and  despotism.  Compare  this  mild,  peaceful,  intellectual  policy, 
with  the  dreadful,  savage  alternative  of  going  to  war,  and  the 
difference  must  surely  be  evident  to  every  one.  In  the  former 
case,  we  calmly  enjoy,  first  of  all,  the  pleasing  reflection,  that 
our  country  is  generously  imparting  to  the  nations  of  Europe  the 
blessings  she  is  tranquilly  deriving  from  the  purification  and 
civilisation  of  her  own  mind  ; — far  from  wishing  to  exterminate, 
we  are  gradually  illuminating,  the  Russian  peasant — we  are 
mildly  throwing  a  gleam  of  light  upon  the  fetters  of  the  Russian 
Prince  ;  and  surely  every  well-disposed  person  must  see,  that,  if 
we  will  only  have  patience,  the  result  of  this  noble,  temperate 
conduct  must  produce  all  that  reasonable  beings  can  desire. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  if  we  appeal  to  arms — if,  losing  our  tem- 
per and  our  head,  we  endeavor  (as  the  bear  is  taught  to  dance) 
to  civilize  the  Emperor  of  Russia  by  hard  blows,  we  instantly 
consolidate  all  the  tottering  elements  of  his  dominions ;  we  give 
life,  energy,  and  loyalty  to  his  army ;  we  avert  the  thoughts  of 
his  princes  from  their  own  dishonor ;  we  inflame  the  passions, 
instead  of  awakening  the  sober  judgment  of  his  subjects,  and 
thus  throwing  away  both  our  fulcrum  and  our  lever,  by  resorting 
to  main  strength,  we  raise  the  savage  not  only  to  a  level  with 
ourselves,  but  actually  make  ourselves  decidedly  his  inferior; 
for  Napoleon's  history  ought  surely  sufficiently  to  instruct  us, 
that  the  weapons  of  this  northern  Prince  of  Darkness — (his  climate 


WIESBADEN.  225 


and  his  legions)^-even  if  we  had  an  army,  we  ought  not,  in  pru- 
dence, to  attack  ;  but  the  fact  is,  our  pacific  policy  has  been  to 
try  to  exist  without  an  army, — in  the  opinion  of  all  military  men 
we  have  even  disarmed  ourselves  too  much,  and,  in  this  situation, 
suddenly  to  change  our  system,  and  without  arms  or  armor  to 
attack  one  who  is  almost  invulnerable,  would  be  most  irrationally 
to  paralyze  our  own  political  machinery. 

If,  by  its  moral  assistance,  we  wisely  intend,  under  the  blessings 
of  Heaven,  to  govern  and  be  governed,  we  surely  ought  not  from 
anger  to  desert  its  standard  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  it  must  be 
equally  evident  that  before  we  determine  on  civilizing  the  Emperor 
of  Russia,  by  trying  the  barbarous  experiment  of  whether  his 
troops  or  ours  can,  without  shrinking,  eat  most  lead,  it  would  be 
prudent  to  create  an  army,  as  well  as  funds  able  to  maintain  it ; 
for — 

"  Beware 
Of  entrance  to  a  quarrel ;  but,  being  in 
Bear  it,  that  the  opposer  may  beware  of  thee  !" 


Being  desirous  to  observe  the  way  in  which  a  Sunday  evening 
was  passed  in  Germany,  at  seven  o'clock  on  that  day  I  followed 
a  crowd  of  people  into  the  theatre,  and  found  the  house  so  full, 
that  I  had  great  difficulty  in  obtaining  a  seat.  The  performance 
was  a  complete  surprise  to  me,  for  though  ages  ago,  when  I  was 
voung,  I  had  been  in  the  habit  of  regularly  attending  for  years 
together,  an  Italian  theatre,  yet  never  having  before  witnessed  a 
German  opera,  I  did  not  know  it  was  possible  so  completely  to 
adapt  the  sounds  of  music  to  every  varying  thought  and  senti- 
ment in  a  play :  in  short,  the  words  of  the  play,  and  the  notes  of 
the  orchestra,  were  as  nearly  as  possible  fac-similes  of  each 
other ;  demi-semi-quavers,  crotchets,  and  minims  being  made 
most  ingeniously  to  mimic,  not  only  exclamations,  but  marks  of 
admiration,  notes  of  interrogation,  colons,  and  full  stops. 

The  musical  emphasis  which  accompanied  every  line  through- 
out the  piece,  while  it  merely  astonished  me,  seemed  to  be  most 
scientifically  appreciated  by  the  audience,  whose  countenances  of 


226  BUBBLES. 


severe  attention  were  very  remarkable  ;  no  interruption,  however, 
of  any  sort  took  place,  their  feelings  of  approbation  or  censure 
being  equally  mute.  In  the  various  departments  of  the  perform- 
ance, a  great  deal  of  natural  talent  was  displayed,  and  whether 
one  attended  to  the  music — to  the  style  of  acting — to  the  scenery 
— or  even  to  a  dish  of  devils,  which  made  their  appearance,  most 
strangely  garnished  with  toads,  bats,  serpents,  and  nondescript- 
beings,  one  could  not  help  admitting  that,  in  spite  of  its  torpor, 
there  must  exist  a  considerable  quantity  of  latent  genius,  imagina- 
tion, and  taste  in  the  audience  itself;  indeed,  there  can  be  no 
fairer  criterion  of  the  mental  character  of  any  country,  than  hs 
own  national  spectacles,  which  are,  of  course,  and  must  be,  made 
to  correspond  with,  and  suit,  the  palates  of  those  who  support  them. 
It  is  true  that  that  mimic  Fashion  will  occasionally  introduce  into 
a  country  foreign  habits  not  suited  to  its  climate.  For  instance, 
of  our  own  fine  London  opera,  Italians  say,  that  without  calling 
upon  the  English  audience  itself  to  sing,  their  behavior  quite 
clearly  proves  that  they  have  no  real  taste  for — that  they  are  not 
capable  of  relishing — the  foreign  musical  luxury  which  by  the 
power  of  money  they  have  purchased  :  in  short,  they  accuse  us 
of  listening,  when  we  ought  to  be  coughing— of  talking  to  each 
other,  when  we  ought  to  be  breathless  from  attention — and  of 
most  barbarously  throwing  the  light  of  the  theatre  upon  ourselves 
instead  of  on  the  performers — thus  showing  that  we  prefer  looking 
at  tiers  of  red  soft  cheeks  and  rov\^s  of  white  pearly  teeth,  to 
listening  to  the  chaste,  simple  melody  of  music.  But  whether 
these  foreign  remarks  respecting  an  Italian  performance  be  true 
or  not,  in  our  own  element,  in  our  own  English  theatres,  the  accu- 
sation of  want  of  taste  does  not  hold  good.  The  admirers  of 
Shakspeare,  Siddons,  Kemble,  Kean,  O'Neil,  &c.,  cannot  com- 
plain that  the  writings  of  the  one,  or  the  acting  of  the  others,  have 
not  reached  the  hearts  of  those  to  whom  they  have  been  directed; 
in  short,  without  sympathetic  talent  throughout  the  country,  those 
names  could  never  have  reached  the  respective  eminences  on 
which  they  stand,  and  thus,  though  they  do  honor  to  the  country, 
the  country  can  also  claim  honor  from  them. 

Remarking  to  a  person  who  sat  next  to  me,  that  the  Duke  of 
Nassau's  box,  in  the  theatre,  was  empty,  he  informed  me,  to  my 


WIESBADEN.  227 


very  great  astonishment,  that  his  Highness  had  just  left  his  own 
dominions,  and  had  gone  to  Hanover,  to  bathe  in  the  sea  ! ! ! 
In  short,  while  the  world  was  flocking  to  swallow  and  wallow  in 
the  waters  of  Nassau,  its  noble  prince  was  wandering  for  the  same 
purpose  towards  the  distant  briny  waves  of  the  ocean — but,  as 
Mathews  says — "  Such  is  life,  and  such  is  man  !  like  the  lobster  in 
boiling  water — restless  and  never  satisfied  !  " 

When  the  pleasing  performance  I  had  been  witnessing  was  at 
an  end,  on  coming  in  the  open  air,  I  found  it  was  raining.  Like 
myself,  most  people  were  without  umbrellas ;  the  rain,  however, 
seemed  to  have  no  effect  upon  the  tide  of  human  bodies  that 
flowed  en  masse  towards  the  Cursaal,  which,  ready  lighted  up, 
was  waiting  for  the  disgorging  of  the  theatre.  On  entering  the 
great  door,  each  person  was  required  to  pay  a  florin,  and  as  the 
large  room  was  rapidly  very  nearly  filled,  the  band  struck  up,  and 
dancing  most  vigorously  began.  I  could  now  scarcely  believe  my 
eyes,  that  the  performers,  so  awkwardly  attempting  to  be  active 
before  me,  were  the  identical  people  whose  passive  good  taste  and 
genius  I  had,  with  so  much  pleasure,  been  admiring ;  for  with  a 
more  awkward,  clumsy,  inelegant  set  of  dancers  I  certainly  never 
before  had  found  myself  in  society.  Not  only  was  the  execution 
of  their  steps  violently  bad,  but  their  whole  style  of  dancing  was 
of  a  texture  as  coarse  as  dowlas,  and  most  especially,  in  their 
mode  of  waltzing,  there  was  a  repetition  of  sharp,  vulgar  jerks 
which  it  was  painfully  disagreeable  to  witness.  Leaving,  there- 
fore, these  dull,  heavy  tetotums  to  spin  out  the  evening  in  their 
own  way,  I  quitted  the  great  room  ;  but  no  sooner  did  I  enter  the 
smaller  dens,  than  I  found  that  I  had  fallen  from  the  frying-pan 
into  the  fire,  for  these  "  hells "  were  literally  swarming  with 
inhabitants.  In  each  chamber  an  immense  solitary  lamp  (having 
a  circular  reflector)  hung  over  the  green  cloth  table,  round  which, 
male  and  female  gamesters,  of  all  ages,  were  bending,  with  horrid 
features  of  anxiety  ;  and  as  the  powerful  rancid  oil  light  shone 
upon  their  ill-favored  countenances,  I  could  not  help  with  abhor- 
rence leaning  backwards,  at  seeing  a  group  of  fellow-creatures 
huddled  together  for  such  a  base,  low-minded  object.  In  passing 
through  the  chambers  of  this  infernal  region,  I  found  one  worse, 
if  possible,  than  the  otlier.     Under  each  lamp,  there  were,  here 


228  BUBBLES. 


and  there,  contrasted  with  young  nibblers,  individual  counte- 
nances, of  habitual  gamesters,  which,  as  objects  of  detestation, 
many  a  painter,  or  rather  scene-painter,  would  have  been  exceed- 
ingly anxious  to  sketch ;  but  I  was  so  completely  disgusted  with 
the  whole  thing,  that  as  quickly  as  my  staff  and  two  legs  would 
carry  me,  swinging  the  other  arm,  I  took  my  departure. 

In  hastily  worming  my  way  through  the  ball-room,  I  saw  there 
no  reason  for  changing  my  opinion ;  and  when  I  got  into  the  fresh, 
cool,  open  air,  though  1  was  fully  sensible  I  had  not  spent  my 
Sunday  evening  exactly  as  I  ought  to  have  done,  yet,  in  the 
course  of  my  very  long  life,  I  think  I  never  felt  more  practically 
disposed  to  repeat,  as  in  England  we  are,  thank  Heaven,  still 
taught  to  do — 

**H^member  tijat  tljou  keep  Ijolg  tl)e  Sabbat!)  HBU^.'" 


THE  END. 


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